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]The 34-year-old Okwonna was on Tuesday handed a five-year and three-month prison term by a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia.
The judge also ordered him to pay nearly $5 million in restitution to his victims. This comes after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft on May 20, 2024.
His co-defendant, Umeti, 35, received 10 years in prison on August 27, 2024, and was similarly ordered to pay nearly the same amount in restitution.
Umeti’s conviction came through a federal jury on June 13 over charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to cause intentional damage to a protected computer, and intentional damage to a protected computer.
“A Nigerian national was sentenced today in the Eastern District of Virginia to five years and three months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $5m in restitution for participating in a computer hacking and business email compromise scheme that caused over $5m in losses to multiple victims in the United States and elsewhere.
“Franklin Ifeanyichukwu Okwonna, 34, pleaded guilty on May 20 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for his role in the scheme.
“Okwonna’s co-defendant, Nigerian national Ebuka Raphael Umeti, 35, was sentenced on Aug. 27 to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution,” the statement partly read.
Court documents and evidence presented during the trial showed that Okwonna, Umeti and their co-conspirators orchestrated a sophisticated fraud scheme between February 2016 and July 2021 targeting businesses through phishing emails.
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The emails, designed to originate from trusted sources such as banks or vendors, contained malicious software (malware) that, once opened, allowed the schemers to gain unauthorised access to their victims’ computer systems and email accounts.
They then proceeded to use the access to obtain sensitive information, tricking employees into authorising wire transfers to accounts controlled by the conspirators.
“According to court documents and evidence presented at Umeti’s trial, between February 2016 and July 2021, Umeti, Okwonna, and their co-conspirators caused millions of dollars in unauthorised wire transfers by sending victim businesses phishing emails.
“These emails falsely appeared as though they originated from trusted sources, such as a bank or a vendor.
“After the victim opened an attachment, their computers would be infected with malicious software, or “malware,” that allowed the defendants and their co-conspirators to gain unauthorised access to the victim’s computer systems and email accounts.
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“As a result of this scheme, the defendants and their co-conspirators caused or attempted to cause over $5 million in losses to the victim companies,” the statement added.
