A 42-year-old Nigerian National, Bamidele Omotosho has been sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in federal prison for cyber scam in the United States.
Omotosho was arrested in the United Kingdom and extradited to the US, a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida on Tuesday said.
U.S. District Judge William F. Jung sentenced Omotosho for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and computer intrusion.
The court also ordered Omotosho to pay $2,051,108.70 in restitution to victims of his offences.
According to court documents, in 2017 and 2018, Omotosho, a Nigerian citizen and resident, conspired with others to purchase stolen access credentials (i.e. usernames and passwords) and stolen personal identifying information (PII) of U.S. citizens, including names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, on xDedic.
xDedic is a darknet criminal marketplace that has since been seized and shut down.
According to the statement, Omotosho, and a group of coconspirators he led, then used the stolen credentials and PII to commit at least six different fraudulent schemes totaling over $7.5 million in intended losses and over $2 million in actual losses.
It said, “For example, in June 2017, the conspiracy used that stolen information to hack into the Employees Retirement System of Texas (“ERS”) internet portal. Omotosho and his co-conspirators created fraudulent accounts and diverted retirement payments meant for legitimate ERS participants into accounts that the conspiracy controlled.
“In 2017 and 2018, Omotosho and his co-conspirators purchased unauthorized access to computer networks for multiple accounting firms around the United States, including in the Western District of Texas (“WDTX”) and the Middle District of Florida (“MDFL”). With that access, Omotosho and his co-conspirators obtained PII for accounting firm clients, which they used to file fraudulent tax returns with the IRS.
“During the same time period, Omotosho and his co-conspirators also engaged in identity theft, using stolen PII to apply for credit cards; romance fraud, in which they swindled vulnerable victims out of their savings; and a business e-mail compromise fraud against a pharmaceutical company that resulted in a loss of $250,000.
“Omotosho and his co-conspirators laundered their proceeds by depositing them onto prepaid debit cards or into accounts at financial institutions that Omotosho and his co-conspirators had opened with stolen PII.
“In some instances they used their proceeds to purchase used vehicles, which they shipped to Nigeria for resale.”
