A Nigerian national has been sentenced to eight years in prison after admitting his role in a wide-ranging cyber fraud scheme that targeted American tax preparation businesses and federal loan programmes.
Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, also known as Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo and So Kwan Leung, 40, of Nigeria, was sentenced on 19 October 2026 by US District Judge Paul G. Gardephe in the Southern District of New York. He had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The offences, which began around 2019, involved spear phishing attacks on US tax preparation businesses. Amachukwu and co-conspirators stole personal identifying information and tax data belonging to more than 800 customers. Using the stolen data, they filed fraudulent tax refund claims seeking at least 8.4 million US dollars and successfully obtained at least 2.5 million US dollars.
The scheme also included fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the US Small Business Administration, through which the group obtained at least 819,000 US dollars. In a separate investment fraud, Amachukwu used fake standby letters of credit to generate more than 7 million US dollars.
Judge Gardephe ordered Amachukwu to serve eight years’ imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release. He must also pay restitution of 3,647,629.39 US dollars and forfeit 10,846,634.39 US dollars.
The case was prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. US Attorney Jamie McDonald’s office handled the prosecution.
The sentencing follows Amachukwu’s guilty plea and concludes a multi-year investigation into coordinated cyber intrusions and fraudulent claims directed at US businesses and government programmes.
By John James
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