Southern District of New York Nigerian Man Sentenced To More Than Five Years For Hacking Fraud And Identity Theft Scheme United States Department of Justice
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ppJay Clayton the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Christopher G Raia the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI announced that KINGSLEY UCHELUE UTULU was sentenced today by US District Judge Paul G Gardephe to 63 months in prison for his role in a broad hacking fraud and identity theft scheme targeting USbased businesses and individuals UTULU previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraudppKingsley Uchelue Utulu took part in a scheme to hack into US tax preparation businesses trade in the stolen personal identifying information and defraud the IRS and other governmental bodies said US Attorney Jay Clayton Offshore scammers like Utulu and his coconspirators may think they can target hardworking Americans with their hacking and fraud schemes and avoid prosecution The message from the Department and the FBI is clear they cannot We are committed to protecting Americans from criminals operating offshore ppFBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G Raia said Kingsley Utulu a Nigerian national was part of a scheme that targeted and infiltrated electronic systems of USbased companies to steal more than two million dollars through fraudulent tax returns Along with his coconspirators this defendants scheme reached across the globe to exploit sensitive information for financial gain The FBI will never exempt any individual who seeks to unlawfully profit through deceitful practices regardless of where they are locatedppAccording to the Indictment public court filings and statements made in courtppBeginning in at least in or about 2019 UTULU and other Nigeriabased conspirators took part in a scheme to hack into USbased tax preparation businesses The conspirators utilized spearphishing emails to obtain access to these businesss electronic systems Once they had obtained access the conspirators stole the tax and other identifying information of the business customers The conspirators hacked into several USbased tax businesses located in New York Texas and other statesppThe conspirators obtained the stolen identity information of thousands of individuals They used this information to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service and state tax authorities The conspirators sought fraudulent refunds of at least approximately 84 million of which they successfully obtained at least approximately 25 millionppIn addition to filing fraudulent tax returns the conspirators used the stolen identities to file fraudulent claims with the Small Business Administrations Economic Injury Disaster Loan program The conspirators were able to obtain at least an additional approximately 819000 in fraudulent payoutsppUTULU was arrested for his involvement in this scheme while being present in the United Kingdom and was thereafter extradited to the US to be prosecuted pp ppIn addition to the prison term UTULU 38 of Nigeria was ordered to pay restitution in an amount of 368302939 and forfeiture in the amount of 290250ppMr Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBIppThe prosecution of this case is being handled by the Offices Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit Assistant US Attorney Daniel G Nessim is in charge of the prosecutionppNicholas Biase Shelby Wratchford212 6372600ppJay Clayton the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Christopher G Raia the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of theppJay Clayton the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced today that ALAN SWISS was sentenced to 42 months in prison for participating in a multimilliondollarppJay Clayton the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that RAFAEL ALVAREZ aka the Magician was sentenced today by US District Judge J Paul Oetken to four yearsppSouthern District of New York26 Federal Plaza 37th FloorNew York NY 10278pp ppMain Office Criminal Division 212 6372200ppppHave a question about Government Servicesp
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ppJay Clayton the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Christopher G Raia the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI announced that KINGSLEY UCHELUE UTULU was sentenced today by US District Judge Paul G Gardephe to 63 months in prison for his role in a broad hacking fraud and identity theft scheme targeting USbased businesses and individuals UTULU previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraudppKingsley Uchelue Utulu took part in a scheme to hack into US tax preparation businesses trade in the stolen personal identifying information and defraud the IRS and other governmental bodies said US Attorney Jay Clayton Offshore scammers like Utulu and his coconspirators may think they can target hardworking Americans with their hacking and fraud schemes and avoid prosecution The message from the Department and the FBI is clear they cannot We are committed to protecting Americans from criminals operating offshore ppFBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G Raia said Kingsley Utulu a Nigerian national was part of a scheme that targeted and infiltrated electronic systems of USbased companies to steal more than two million dollars through fraudulent tax returns Along with his coconspirators this defendants scheme reached across the globe to exploit sensitive information for financial gain The FBI will never exempt any individual who seeks to unlawfully profit through deceitful practices regardless of where they are locatedppAccording to the Indictment public court filings and statements made in courtppBeginning in at least in or about 2019 UTULU and other Nigeriabased conspirators took part in a scheme to hack into USbased tax preparation businesses The conspirators utilized spearphishing emails to obtain access to these businesss electronic systems Once they had obtained access the conspirators stole the tax and other identifying information of the business customers The conspirators hacked into several USbased tax businesses located in New York Texas and other statesppThe conspirators obtained the stolen identity information of thousands of individuals They used this information to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service and state tax authorities The conspirators sought fraudulent refunds of at least approximately 84 million of which they successfully obtained at least approximately 25 millionppIn addition to filing fraudulent tax returns the conspirators used the stolen identities to file fraudulent claims with the Small Business Administrations Economic Injury Disaster Loan program The conspirators were able to obtain at least an additional approximately 819000 in fraudulent payoutsppUTULU was arrested for his involvement in this scheme while being present in the United Kingdom and was thereafter extradited to the US to be prosecuted pp ppIn addition to the prison term UTULU 38 of Nigeria was ordered to pay restitution in an amount of 368302939 and forfeiture in the amount of 290250ppMr Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBIppThe prosecution of this case is being handled by the Offices Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit Assistant US Attorney Daniel G Nessim is in charge of the prosecutionppNicholas Biase Shelby Wratchford212 6372600ppJay Clayton the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Christopher G Raia the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of theppJay Clayton the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced today that ALAN SWISS was sentenced to 42 months in prison for participating in a multimilliondollarppJay Clayton the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that RAFAEL ALVAREZ aka the Magician was sentenced today by US District Judge J Paul Oetken to four yearsppSouthern District of New York26 Federal Plaza 37th FloorNew York NY 10278pp ppMain Office Criminal Division 212 6372200ppppHave a question about Government Servicesp
