Two Nigerians living in the United States have been sentenced to a combined 189 months in federal prison for their involvement in a cyber fraud scheme that defrauded businesses of more than $2.4m.
The convicts, Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu and Harafat Mogaji, were sentenced on September 25, 2026, after being found guilty of participating in the international scheme.
According to a statement by MacKenzie Tubbs, Public Information Officer for the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Iowa, the two men were residents of Delaware and had been members of the US Air Force when they committed the offences.
Tubbs said Odimegwu, Mogaji and their accomplices targeted businesses across the United States for nearly two years through email spamming and phishing campaigns.
The operation enabled the group to obtain usernames and passwords belonging to employees of targeted businesses.
The stolen credentials were then allegedly used alongside spoofed email addresses to impersonate victims and their business partners and divert legitimate payments into bank accounts controlled by the conspirators.
The statement said the two men and their associates diverted more than $1.68m in a wire transfer from a victim in Iowa City, Iowa, to an account in Chicago controlled by the conspiracy.
They also diverted more than $720,000 transferred by a victim in Ohio into another account controlled by the group.
“These are in addition to many other attempts Odimegwu and Mogaji made to divert wire transfers made by businesses in Iowa and across the country,” Tubbs said.
The investigation further established that the defendants harvested sensitive financial information from victims during their phishing campaigns.
The stolen data included bank account numbers, personal identification numbers, credit and debit card details and other financial information.
Tubbs said some of the stolen information belonged to a non-profit organisation in Pella, Iowa.
She added that Odimegwu and Mogaji also purchased stolen financial information from co-conspirators and exchanged such data among themselves.
The information was allegedly used in attempts to conduct unauthorised financial transactions and make purchases using victims’ details.
Odimegwu was sentenced to 111 months in prison and ordered to pay $366,617.59 in restitution.
Mogaji received a 78-month prison sentence and was ordered to pay $995,680.45 in restitution.
Both men were taken into custody immediately after sentencing.
After completing their prison terms, each defendant will spend three years under supervised release.
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