Nigerian student defrauds US companies of millions of Dollars

isaac dachen

September 19, 2017 10:40 AM

A Nigerian student based in the United States of America has been jailed for 46 months for carrying out one of the most audacious scams ever witnessed.

A Nigerian student in the United States of America,

Dallas News reports that Amuegbunam 'took the scamming game to another level by posing as a CEO' and managed to convince top companies in the US to send him millions of Dollars in a scheme that was spurned out criminal ingenuity.

According to the FBI, the scam scheme perpetrated by Amuegbunam was 'more sophisticated than any similar scam the bureau has ever seen before.'

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The scam called Business Email Compromise [BEC], it was gathered, was operated by Amuegbunam who reportedly sent forwarded email messages to company employees by interchanging letters in actual company emails so that it appeared he had the authority as a top company executive to wire money.

Investigators learned about his scams in 2013 when two North Texas companies fell victim to his tricks. He ended up tricking more than 10 victims out of approximately $3.7 million.

According to court records, the 30-year-old Amuegbunam was living in the US on a student visa at the time he committed the crimes. When he was arraigned in court following his arrest, Amuegbunam pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and a federal judge sentenced him to 46 months in prison.

His attorney, Ezekiel Tyson said of the conviction:

"Mr. Amuegbunam has grown tremendously as a person and as a man throughout the process of this criminal case.

He is absolutely one of the most intelligent and creative individuals I have ever represented."

After his prison term, Amuegbuna will be deported to Nigeria where he plans to become a farmer, according to Tyson.

"I expect once he puts his intelligence, creativity, and drive towards legitimate enterprises, he will have a very positive future.

Mr. Amuegbunam also plans to do his best to repay the restitution he owes to the victim companies."

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The Nigerian scammer, according to reports, had allegedly hacked into the emails of the companies he defrauded and over time, sent messages to workers pretending to be their CEO and managing to defraud them of huge sums of money.

isaac dachen