Two Nigerians resident in the United States have been sentenced to a combined 189 months in federal prison for their roles in an international cyber fraud scheme that diverted more than $2.4m from businesses.
The convicts, Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu and Harafat Mogaji, were sentenced on September 25, 2026, after being found guilty of participating in the scheme, according to the Public Information Officer for the Southern District of Iowa, MacKenzie Tubbs.
Tubbs said the two Delaware residents were serving in the United States Air Force when they and their accomplices targeted businesses across the country through email spamming and phishing campaigns.
The group allegedly obtained usernames and passwords from employees’ email accounts and used the stolen credentials to gain access to business communications and redirect payments to bank accounts controlled by the conspiracy.
The authorities said the fraudsters also used spoofed email addresses designed to resemble those of businesses or their legitimate partners to deceive victims and facilitate the diversion of funds.
According to the statement, more than $1.68m belonging to an Iowa victim was diverted to a bank account in Chicago linked to the conspiracy, while another victim in Ohio had more than $720,000 redirected.
The investigation also revealed that the defendants harvested financial information, including bank account details, personal identification numbers and credit and debit card information. Some of the stolen data was allegedly exchanged among members of the conspiracy or purchased from other co-conspirators.
Odimegwu was sentenced to 111 months in prison and ordered to pay $366,617.59 in restitution, while Mogaji received 78 months and was ordered to pay $995,680.45.
Both were taken into custody after sentencing and will each spend three years under supervised release after completing their prison terms.
