A U.S. federal court has sentenced Nigerian national Kingsley Uchelue Utulu to five years and three months in prison for his role in a large-scale identity theft and wire fraud scheme that defrauded the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and private individuals of more than $2.5 million.
The sentencing was announced over the weekend by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and FBI New York Field Office Assistant Director-in-Charge, Christopher Raia.
According to court documents, 38-year-old Utulu was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors said he was part of a cybercrime ring that hacked into U.S. tax preparation firms, stole sensitive personal data, and used it to file fraudulent tax returns and claim refunds.
“Kingsley Uchelue Utulu took part in a scheme to hack into U.S. tax preparation businesses, trade in stolen personal identifying information, and defraud the IRS and other government entities,” said Clayton. “Foreign fraudsters like Utulu may believe they can target Americans with impunity, but this case shows they will be held accountable.”
Utulu was arrested in the United Kingdom and extradited to the United States to face trial. In addition to his prison sentence, he was ordered to pay $3,683,029.39 in restitution and forfeit $290,250.
This sentencing comes on the heels of the recent convictions of two other Nigerian nationals, Abel Daramola and Olutayo Ogunlaja, who were found guilty of orchestrating a $560,000 international romance scam. They each face potential sentences of up to 20 years in federal prison.
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