This is contained in a statement posted on the website of the US Department of Justice.
Okwonna, 34 years old, was sentenced by a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia to five years and three months in prison.
He was also ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution. Okwonna had pleaded guilty on May 20 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Okwonna’s co-defendant, 35-year-old Umeti, was sentenced on August 27 to 10 years in prison and was similarly ordered to pay nearly $5m in restitution.
Umeti was convicted by a federal jury on June 13 on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to cause intentional damage to a protected computer, and intentional damage to a protected computer.
According to court documents and trial evidence, between February 2016 and July 2021, Okwonna, Umeti, and their co-conspirators orchestrated a sophisticated fraud scheme targeting businesses through phishing emails.
These emails, designed to appear as if they were from trusted sources such as banks or vendors, contained malicious software ,malware, that, once opened, allowed the conspirators to gain unauthorized access to the victims’ computer systems and email accounts.
The fraudsters then used this access to obtain sensitive information, tricking employees into authorizing wire transfers to accounts controlled by the conspirators. The scheme caused or attempted to cause over $5 million in losses to the targeted businesses.