Two Nigerians living in the United States, Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu and Harafat Mogaji, have received a total of 189 months in federal prison for their involvement in a global cyber scam that stole over $2.4 million from various businesses.
PUNCH Metro got the news from a statement by the Public Information Officer, MacKenzie Tubbs, on Tuesday. US Attorney David Waterman from the Southern District of Iowa announced the sentences.
Tubbs said the two Nigerians, who lived in Delaware, were sentenced on September 25, 2026, after being found guilty of participating in the scam.
The PIO explained that both men were in the US Air Force when they and their accomplices targeted businesses across the country for almost two years. They used email spamming and phishing tactics to carry out their attacks.
The suspects stole usernames and passwords from employees' email accounts. They then used this information to commit fraud.
Tubbs mentioned that the defendants and their accomplices also created fake email addresses that looked like they belonged to victims or their business partners. They used these emails to trick businesses into sending money to accounts controlled by the criminals.
Tubbs stated, "They and their co-conspirators then used these stolen credentials, along with 'spoofed' email addresses mimicking emails associated with the victim or its business partners, to communicate with their victims and redirect payments to and from the victims’ trusted business partners to accounts controlled by the defendants’ co-conspirators."
She added that Odimegwu and Mogaji worked with accomplices both in the US and abroad. They fraudulently redirected over $1.68 million from a wire transfer sent by a victim in Iowa City, Iowa, to a bank account in Chicago that the criminals controlled.
The pair also diverted more than $720,000 sent by another victim in Ohio to a bank account linked to their scheme.
“These are in addition to many other attempts Odimegwu and Mogaji made to divert wire transfers made by businesses in Iowa and across the country,” Tubbs explained.
The PIO also noted that the suspects gathered financial details from victims during their spamming and phishing attacks.
According to her, this information included account numbers, personal identification numbers, and credit and debit card details.
She revealed that the stolen data included credit card information from a non-profit organization in Pella, Iowa.
Tubbs stated that the suspects also bought similar stolen information from their accomplices.
“They would then use the stolen information to make and attempt financial transactions without their victims’ knowledge or authorization,” she said.
The Public Information Officer added that the suspects exchanged the stolen information among themselves and tried to use it for purchases using data gathered from victims nationwide.
“Odimegwu was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 111 months and ordered to pay restitution for $366,617.59.
“Mogaji was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 78 months and ordered to pay restitution of $995,680.45. Both were taken into custody following sentencing.
“After completing their prison terms, Odimegwu and Mogaji will each serve a three-year term on supervised release,” she noted.
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