A United States federal court has sentenced a Nigerian national, Matthew Akande, to eight years in prison for orchestrating a cyber fraud operation that siphoned more than $1.3 million from the U.S. government through fraudulent tax filings.
Akande, 37, was handed the sentence on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani at a federal court in Boston, according to a statement released by U.S. authorities.
In addition to the custodial sentence, the court ordered him to pay $1,393,230 in restitution.
He will also serve three years of supervised release after completing his prison term.
The statement read in part: “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.”
Authorities disclosed that Akande was apprehended in October 2024 at Heathrow Airport following a request from U.S. officials. He was later extradited to the United States on March 5, 2025.
He had previously been indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2022 on several counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, unauthorized access to protected computers, theft of government funds, and aggravated identity theft.
Prosecutors said that from June 2016 to June 2021, Akande and his collaborators launched phishing campaigns targeting tax preparation firms in Massachusetts.
The emails, which appeared to be inquiries from potential clients, were crafted to deceive recipients into installing remote-access malware, including a tool identified as Warzone RAT.
According to the statement, “Akande worked with others to steal money from the United States government using taxpayers’ personally identifiable information (PII) to file fraudulent tax returns in the taxpayers’ names.”
Investigators said the malicious software allowed the group to gain access to clients’ personal data and previous tax records.
Using the compromised information, the conspirators submitted more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns claiming over $8.1 million in refunds.
The refunds were funneled into U.S.-based bank accounts opened by accomplices, who withdrew the funds and sent portions to individuals in Mexico on Akande’s instructions.
“In total, Akande and his coconspirators filed more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns seeking over $8.1 million in fraudulent tax refunds over approximately five years.
“They successfully obtained over $1.3 million in fraudulent tax refunds,” the statement added.
