Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Two co-conspirators have already been charged and sentenced.
Greenbelt, Maryland –James Aliyu, 29, the last of three defendants charged in a $6-million business email compromise (BEC) scheme, has been extradited from South Africa to the United States to face federal indictment.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Aliyu, Kosi Goodness Simon-Ebo, 30, and Henry Onyedikachi Echefu, 31, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a BEC scheme that resulted in the loss of more than $6 million.
All three are Nigerian citizens that resided in South Africa at the time of the crimes. Federal authorities returned this indictment on June 24, 2019, and unsealed it on July 6, 2022, upon the defendants’ arrests outside the U.S.
Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the indictment with Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore.
According to the seven-count indictment, from February 2016 until at least July 2017, the defendants conspired with others to perpetrate a BEC scheme. The indictment alleges that the defendants and their co-conspirators, some of whom resided in Maryland, gained unauthorized access to individual and business email accounts. Co-conspirators then allegedly sent false wiring instructions to the victims’ email accounts from spoofed emails, which are forged with sender addresses, to deceive the victims into sending money to bank accounts, known as drop accounts, that were controlled by perpetrators of the scheme.
The indictment also alleges that the defendants conspired to commit money laundering. They planned to disburse the fraudulently obtained funds to other accounts by initiating account transfers, withdrawing cash, obtaining cashier’s checks, and by writing checks to other individuals and entities, to hide the true ownership and source of the assets. Additionally, the defendants are charged with wire fraud, related to the BEC scheme. Specifically, Simon-Ebo is charged in three wire-fraud counts in which he wired $6,343,533.10 collected from victims to accounts controlled by conspirators.
Simon-Ebo and Echefu were previously extradited from Canada, pled guilty, and have been sentenced.
If convicted, Aliyu faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and for each count of money laundering and wire fraud.
Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. The individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
U.S. Attorney Barron commended HSI’s Mid-Atlantic El Dorado Task Force for its work in the investigation. Mr. Barron also thanked the South African Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa, and the South African Police Service. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) provided significant assistance in securing Aliyu’s extradition from South Africa. OIA and the Department of Justice Canada’s International Assistance Group also provided substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of both Echefu and Simon-Ebo. Mr. Barron also recognized Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes, who is prosecuting the federal case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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