Nigerian Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Computer Intrusion and Theft
TL;DR
A Nigerian national was sentenced to eight years in prison for leading a scheme to hack into tax preparation firms, steal personal information, and file fraudulent tax returns, resulting in $1.4 million in restitution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
A Nigerian national living in Mexico, who was extradited to the U.S., was sentenced Feb. 17 in federal court in Boston for his role in a scheme to break into Massachusetts tax preparation firms’ computer networks and to file fraudulent tax returns. Matthew A. Akande, 37, was sentenced to eight years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Akande was also ordered to pay approximately $1.4 million in restitution. Between in or about Jun. 2016 and Jun. 2021, Akande worked with others to steal money from the U.S. government using taxpayers’ personally identifiable information (PII) to file fraudulent tax returns in the taxpayers’ names. The scheme also involved stealing taxpayers’ PII from Massachusetts tax preparation firms via phishing attacks and computer intrusions. News Release