Man Sentenced in New York: Eight Years for Hacking Tax Firms and Identity Theft Schemes
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, also known as Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo and So Kwan Leung, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe to eight years in prison for his role in multiple fraud, hacking and identity theft offenses. He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald made the announcement.
According to the superseding indictments, public court filings and statements made in court, beginning in at least 2019, Amachukwu, his co-conspirator Kingsley Uchelue Utulu and other Nigeria-based conspirators used spearphishing emails to break into the electronic systems of U.S. tax preparation businesses in New York, Texas and other states, stealing the tax and identifying information of at least approximately 800 customers and, in total, thousands of individuals. They used the stolen information to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state tax authorities, seeking at least approximately $8.4 million in fraudulent refunds and successfully obtaining at least approximately $2.5 million. They also used stolen identities to obtain at least approximately $819,000 from the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. In a separate scheme, Amachukwu impersonated a wealthy overseas financier to sell victims investments in standby letters of credit that did not exist, pocketing more than $7 million.
In addition to the prison term, Amachukwu, 40, of Nigeria, was sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $3,647,629.39 and forfeiture of $10,846,634.39. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the case, which is being handled by the Office's Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Nessim in charge of the prosecution.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：联邦调查局 FBI 总部大楼，华盛顿（资料图），来源 Wikimedia Commons，开放授权。Photo: FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. (file photo), via Wikimedia Commons.
