A Nigerian national, James Junior Aliyu, has been sentenced to 90 months’ imprisonment in the United States for his role in a $4.1 million wire fraud and money laundering scheme.
In a statement released on Saturday, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Aliyu was also ordered to forfeit $1.2 million and pay $2.4 million in restitution to victims.
The agency added that he will be deported after completing his prison sentence.
The case
In July 2022, the International Criminal Police Organisation, with support from the South African Police Service, arrested Aliyu for defrauding dozens of US citizens.
He was apprehended in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Authorities said Aliyu was part of a cybercrime network involved in phishing, internet scams, and money laundering.
Following his extradition to the United States, he pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him.
Eight other defendants linked to the scheme also pleaded guilty in separate cases before the District of Maryland.
Prosecutors said Aliyu and his accomplices gained unauthorised access to email accounts belonging to individuals and businesses between February and July 2017.
They were said to have sent “false wiring instructions to the victims’ email accounts from “spoofed” emails — accounts associated with forged sender addresses — to deceive the victims into sending money to bank accounts controlled by the scheme’s perpetrators”.
According to prosecutors, Aliyu was directly involved in at least $4,162,211 in wire fraud.