Chukwuemeka Amachukwu, 40, pleaded guilty to computer-intrusion and wire-fraud conspiracy. Judge Paul Gardephe also ordered $3.6m restitution and $10.8m forfeiture.
A US court has sentenced 40-year-old Nigerian national Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu to eight years in prison for his role in hacking, identity theft and multi-million-dollar fraud schemes, and ordered him to forfeit $10,846,634.39. The sentence was handed down by US District Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the Southern District of New York and announced by US Attorney Jamie McDonald.
Amachukwu — who also used the identities “Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo” and “So Kwan Leung” — pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He must serve one year of supervised release after prison, and pay $3,647,629.39 in restitution.
The tax-firm hack
From 2019, Amachukwu and co-conspirators, including Kingsley Uchelue Utulu, used spear-phishing emails to breach the electronic systems of US tax preparation businesses. Prosecutors say they exfiltrated tax and personal data on roughly 800 customers across New York, Texas and other states, then filed fraudulent returns with the IRS and state authorities. They sought refunds of at least $8.4m and actually collected at least $2.5m. The same stolen identities were used to apply for Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loans, yielding at least $819,000 in illicit payouts.
The second scheme
In a separate fraud, Amachukwu posed as a wealthy foreign financier, selling US victims investments in supposedly valuable standby letters of credit that did not exist. He and his co-conspirators took more than $7m.
The FBI assisted the investigation; Assistant US Attorney Daniel G. Nessim prosecuted. McDonald’s message was pointed: Amachukwu “believed he could operate beyond the reach of US authorities.” The combined figures — a $2.5m refund haul, $819,000 in pandemic-era loan fraud, and $7m in fake investment sales — explain why the forfeiture order ($10.8m) far exceeds the restitution owed to identified victims ($3.6m).
How it ends
Eight years’ imprisonment, one year of supervised release, $3,647,629.39 in restitution to identified victims and $10,846,634.39 in forfeiture. The forfeiture exceeds restitution because it captures the full scale of the fraud, not only the provable losses. McDonald’s summary was pointed: Amachukwu “believed he could operate beyond the reach of US authorities.”
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