US court sentences Nigerian to 90 months for 1.2m wire fraud

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has announced that a Nigerian national, James Junior Aliyu, has been sentenced to 90 months in prison for his role in a wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy involving the hacking of business email systems.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the agency said Aliyu “will serve a 90-month sentence for his role in a wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy after planning to hack business email servers.”

The statement further disclosed that Aliyu “was extradited from South Africa to face justice,” adding that he “was slapped with a $1.2M forfeiture order and a $2.4M restitution order and will be removed from the United States when he completes his sentence.”

Highlighting its role in the investigation, the agency stated that “ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents in Maryland and South Africa offices were proud to be part of the international team that investigated this case.”

Details from an August 2025 report by the U.S. Department of Justice provided further insight into the case, showing that Aliyu, 30, had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

According to the report, Aliyu “was the last of three defendants to plead guilty to his role in a business email compromise (BEC) scheme,” while “eight other defendants previously pled guilty in the District of Maryland in separate cases related to the same conspiracy.”

U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Kelly O. Hayes, who announced the plea alongside Acting Special Agent in Charge Evan Campanella, said the case underscored the scale of coordinated cyber-enabled fraud.

Court filings showed that “on June 24, 2019, a federal grand jury returned an indictment” charging Aliyu alongside Kosi Goodness Simon-Ebo and Henry Onyedikachi Echefu with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The indictment “was unsealed on July 6, 2022, upon the defendants’ arrests outside of the US” and all three were subsequently extradited to face trial.

According to the plea agreement cited in the report, “from February 2017 until at least July 2017, Aliyu conspired with others to perpetrate a BEC scheme.”

It explained that the syndicate “gained unauthorised access to email accounts associated with individuals and businesses that they targeted” and “sent false wiring instructions to the victims’ email accounts from ‘spoofed’ emails… to deceive the victims into sending money to bank accounts controlled by the scheme’s perpetrators.”

The report added that the group also “plotted to commit money laundering,” noting that they “conspired to disburse the fraudulently obtained funds into the drop accounts and to other accounts by initiating account transfers, withdrawing cash, obtaining cashier’s checks, and writing checks… to hide the true ownership and source of the assets.”

On the financial impact, the Department of Justice stated that “the intended loss for transactions Aliyu was directly involved in was at least $4,162,211.65,” while “the actual loss resulting from these transactions was at least $1,570,475.” It added that “Aliyu directly controlled at least $1,194,565 of the funds they obtained from victims.”

The plea agreement also required that “Aliyu is required to pay a money judgment of at least $1,194,565, and restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses,” which both parties agreed was “at least $2,389,130.”

Authorities commended the collaborative effort behind the case, with the report noting that U.S. Attorney Hayes “commended HSI’s Mid-Atlantic El Dorado Task Force for its work in the investigation” and also “thanked the South African Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa, and South African Police Service.”

It further stated that the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs “provided significant assistance in securing Aliyu’s extradition from South Africa,” underscoring the international cooperation involved in the case.