Nigerian Nationwide Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu has been handed over to the US from France to face prices of hacking, fraud and identification theft for alleged spear assaults on US tax preparation operations.
The attacker is designed to steal private knowledge and submit fraudulent tax and mortgage purposes, permitting risk actors to steal a complete of greater than $3 million.
Particularly, Nigerians are stated to have gained round $2,500,000 (of $8.4 million) from fraudulent tax refunds, and about $2,500,000, and likewise $819,000 from fraudulent SBA mortgage purposes.
The DOJ says Amachukwu was finishing up one other rip-off that included faux funding alternatives.
“Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu has joined a plan to hack into the US tax enterprise, commerce stolen sufferer identification info, and fraudulent the IRS and different authorities businesses,” stated U.S. Lawyer Jay Clayton.
“Amachukwu is alleged to have additionally participated in one other fraud scheme that promised victims helpful investments that didn’t really exist.”
In response to the indictment, Amateurchuk launched a spearfishing assault between 2019 and 2021, focusing on US entities together with co-defendants Kingsley Uchel Utul and different Nigerian co-conspirators.
Hackers used phishing emails to realize unauthorized entry to focused computer systems and stole personally identifiable info (PII) from hundreds of US residents.
This info was then used to file fraudulent IRS tax returns and SBA mortgage claims, leading to greater than $3.3 million in damages to the US state.
In parallel, Amachukwu carried out a faux funding scheme that features a non-existent standby letter of credit score. In actuality, all the cash went on to Amachuku and no funding was made.
The people who’re handed over are confronted with a price corresponding to 6 counts, together with:
- Conspiracy to commit pc intrusion (as much as 5 years)
- Conspiracy to commit wire fraud (20 years every)
- Wire fraud (two occasions, 20 years every)
- Aggravated identification theft (necessary for the second 12 months in a row)
Moreover, the US seeks the confiscation of all fraudulent earnings, together with funds, belongings, or different valuables derived from legal schemes or different belongings of the identical worth.
Amachukwu was handed over from France on August 4, 2025 and appeared earlier than US Justice of the Peace Choose Robert W. Railberger for the primary court docket listening to the next day. The trial date will not be scheduled but.
