Nigerian man pleads guilty to $6m internet fraud in U.S. Court

0
14

By agency report

A 30-year-old Nigerian national, James Aliyu, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit six million dollars wire fraud and money laundering in a U.S. court.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Kelly Hayes, announced the guilty plea alongside Evan Campanella, the Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Baltimore.

Aliyu, who was arrested and extradited from South Africa to the United States, was residing in South Africa at the time of committing the crime.

- Advertisement -

He is the last of three defendants Nigerians to plead guilty to his role in a business email compromise (BEC) scheme.

Eight other defendants previously pled guilty in the District of Maryland in separate cases related to the same conspiracy.

On June 24, 2019, a federal grand jury returned an indictment, charging Aliyu, Kosi Goodness Simon-Ebo, 30, and Henry Onyedikachi Echefu, 31, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

All three are Nigerian citizens who resided in South Africa at the time of the crimes.

Federal authorities unsealed the indictment on July 6, 2022, upon the defendants’ arrests outside of the U.S.

All three were extradited to the United States from outside the country to face their federal charges.

According to his plea agreement, from February 2017 until at least July 2017, Aliyu conspired with others to perpetrate a BEC scheme.

Specifically, Aliyu and his co-conspirators, including co-conspirators residing in Maryland, gained unauthorized access to email accounts associated with individuals and businesses that they targeted.

 

Advertisement
Previous articleBreaking: Tinubu reverses recent NTA appointments, recalls DG, others
Next articleICPC mobilises states against corruption, tasks information managers on integrity

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.