Nigerian national sentenced to 8 years for hacking US tax firms

Chukwuemeka Amachukwu was sentenced to eight years in US federal prison and ordered to pay over $3.6 million in restitution for spearphishing attacks on tax preparation businesses since 2019. His group stole data on about 800 customers and obtained $2.5 million in fraudulent refunds plus $819,000 from an SBA loan program.

• Judge Paul Gardephe handed down 8 years plus one year of supervised release
• The group sought $8.4 million in refunds and obtained $2.5 million
• Co-conspirator Kingsley Utulu was sentenced to five years
• Amachukwu also made over $7 million via fake standby letters of credit