In order to orchestrate a cyber plot that defrauded the U.S. government of over $1.3 million by targeting tax preparation organisations, a Nigerian man named Matthew A. Akande was sentenced to eight years in jail.
A statement posted on the US government’s website on Wednesday informed people of this.
The statement claims that U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani sentenced Akande, 37, who had been residing in Mexico, on Tuesday at a federal court in Boston. In addition to serving three years of supervised release following his jail sentence, he was mandated to pay $1,393,230 in reparations.
The statement said, “A Nigerian national living in Mexico, who was extradited to the United States, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for his role in a scheme to break into Massachusetts tax preparation firms’ computer networks and to file fraudulent tax returns.
Matthew A. Akande, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to eight years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Akande was also ordered to pay $1,393,230 in restitution.”
Authorities said Akande was arrested in October 2024 at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom at the request of U.S. officials and extradited on March 5, 2025.
He had also been indicted in July 2022 on multiple charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud, unauthorized computer access, theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft.
Akande was arrested in October 2024 at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom at the request of the United States and extradited to the United States on March 5, 2025.
“Akande was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2022 with one count of conspiracy to obtain unauthorized access to protected computers in furtherance of fraud and to commit theft of government money and money laundering; one count of wire fraud; four counts of unauthorized access to protected computers in furtherance of fraud; 13 counts of theft of government money; and 14 counts of aggravated identity theft,” the statement further said. READ MORE
