Two US-Based Nigerians Sentenced to 15 Years for $2.4m Fraud

Two Nigerians living in the United States, Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu and Harafat Mogaji, have been sentenced to a combined 189 months in federal prison for their involvement in an international cybercrime scheme that defrauded businesses of more than $2.4 million.

The two men, who were residents of Delaware and members of the US Air Force at the time of the offences, were sentenced on September 25, 2026, after being convicted for their roles in the scheme.

According to a statement issued by the Public Information Officer for the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Iowa, MacKenzie Tubbs, the defendants and their co-conspirators targeted businesses across the United States for nearly two years through email spamming and phishing campaigns.

The group allegedly stole usernames and passwords from employees’ email accounts and used the credentials to facilitate fraudulent transactions.

They also used spoofed email addresses that appeared to belong to victims or their business partners to redirect payments into bank accounts controlled by the conspiracy.

Authorities said the defendants and their associates fraudulently diverted more than $1.68 million in a wire transfer from a victim in Iowa City, Iowa, to a bank account in Chicago. They also diverted more than $720,000 sent by a victim in Ohio.

The investigation further found that the suspects harvested financial information, including bank account details, personal identification numbers, and credit and debit card information. They allegedly exchanged some of the stolen information with other members of the conspiracy and used it in attempted financial transactions and purchases without the victims’ authorisation.

Odimegwu was sentenced to 111 months in prison and ordered to pay $366,617.59 in restitution, while Mogaji received a 78-month prison sentence and was ordered to pay $995,680.45 in restitution.

Both men were taken into custody after sentencing and will each serve three years of supervised release after completing their prison terms.

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