This malware granted the defendants unauthorized access to the victims’ computer systems and email accounts.
In a significant legal development, Franklin Ifeanyichukwu Okwonna, a 34-year-old Nigerian national, was sentenced today in the Eastern District of Virginia to five years and three months in prison. He was also ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution. Okwonna’s sentence follows his guilty plea on May 20 to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Okwonna’s co-defendant, Ebuka Raphael Umeti, also a Nigerian national aged 35, received a more severe sentence on August 27. Umeti was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution. His conviction, which came after a federal jury trial on June 13, included charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, multiple counts of wire fraud, and intentional damage to a protected computer.
According to the press release, trial evidence reveals that between February 2016 and July 2021, Umeti, Okwonna, and their accomplices executed a scheme involving phishing emails that appeared to come from trusted entities like banks or vendors. These deceptive emails contained attachments that, when opened, installed malware on the victims' computers.
"Court documents and evidence presented at Umeti’s trial, between February 2016 and July 2021, Umeti, Okwonna, and their co-conspirators caused millions of dollars in unauthorized wire transfers by sending victim businesses phishing emails."
This malware granted the defendants unauthorized access to the victims’ computer systems and email accounts. Exploiting this access, the perpetrators were able to gather sensitive information and trick individuals at the targeted businesses into transferring funds to accounts controlled by the fraudsters.
"After the victim opened an attachment, their computers would be infected with malicious software, or “malware,” that allowed the defendants and their co-conspirators to gain unauthorized access to the victim’s computer systems and email accounts. The defendants and their co-conspirators then exploited that access to obtain sensitive information, which they used to deceive individuals at the victim companies into executing wire transfers to accounts specified by the co-conspirators."
The fraudulent activities orchestrated by Okwonna, Umeti, and their network resulted in more than $5 million in financial losses for various companies both in the United States and internationally
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