Nigerian man sentenced to 5 years for role in BEC operation
A Nigerian man who pleaded guilty to participating in multiple business email compromise schemes over several years was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday and ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution.
Franklin Ifeanyichukwu Okwanna, 34, pleaded guilty May 20 to his role in the operation, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Ebuka Raphael Umeti, 35, Okwanna’s co-defendant, was convicted June 13 for his role and sentenced to 10 years in prison, as well as nearly $5 million in restitution, prosecutors said.
Okwanna and Umeti’s operation targeted multiple companies and caused more than $5 million in losses between February 2016 and July 2021, according to court documents. The pair, along with co-conspirators, used phishing emails to compromise targeted computer systems and email accounts, which were then used to induce targets to send wire transfers, according to the court record.
Okwanna told the judge in his case that he was sorry for his actions. “In my selfish head, I was blinded by my financial problems that I thought only of my material gain,” he said in a letter to the judge. “I knew it was wrong but I didn’t get myself to stop.”
Letters submitted by family members and one local orphanage argued for a lenient sentence, saying Okwanna supported his family and community.
Business email compromise, also known as “BEC,” occurs when attackers target businesses and individuals responsible for legitimate transfer-of-funds requests, the FBI said in a June 2023 public service announcement. There were nearly 278,000 BEC incidents globally between October 2013 and December 2022, according to the FBI, leading to more than $50 billion in “exposed dollar” losses, meaning actual and attempted dollars stolen.
