The United States Department of Justice has detailed how a Nigerian, Matthew Akande, attempted to defraud more than 1,000 Americans of $8.1m through a fraudulent tax return scheme.

It was learnt from a statement published on the department’s website on Thursday that Akande, who has been sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment, successfully obtained about $1.3m in fraudulent tax refunds before the scheme was uncovered.

According to the statement, Akande, 37, was based in Mexico prior to his arrest at Heathrow Airport in October 2024.

The Department of Justice disclosed that between June 2016 and June 2021, Akande conspired with others to steal funds from the United States government by filing fraudulent tax returns using stolen personal information of taxpayers.

Investigations revealed that Akande and his accomplices obtained taxpayers’ personally identifiable information and prior-year tax records from Massachusetts-based tax preparation firms through phishing attacks and computer intrusions.

The statement read, “To carry out the scheme, Akande caused fraudulent phishing emails to be sent to five Massachusetts tax preparation firms. The emails purported to be from prospective clients seeking the firms’ services but were, in truth, used to trick the firms into downloading a remote access trojan, malicious software, including malware known as Warzone RAT.

“Akande used the RAT malware to obtain the PII and prior-year tax information of the firms’ clients, which he then used to file fraudulent tax returns seeking refunds.

“The tax returns directed that the fraudulent refunds be deposited into accounts opened by co-conspirators in the United States.”

The department added that once the Internal Revenue Service issued the refunds, Akande instructed his co-conspirators to withdraw the funds and remit portions to third parties in Mexico, while retaining a share for themselves.

“In total, Akande and his co-conspirators filed more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns seeking over $8.1m in fraudulent tax refunds over approximately five years. They successfully obtained more than $1.3m,” the statement said.

Following investigations, Akande was charged in 2022 with 32 counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft. He was later extradited to the United States and arraigned before a federal court in Boston.

The DoJ said Akande was sentenced by Indira Talwani of the US District Court to eight years in prison for his role in breaking into the computer networks of Massachusetts tax preparation firms and filing fraudulent tax returns.

“Matthew A. Akande, 37, was sentenced to eight years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $1,393,230 in restitution,” the statement added. (Text, excluding headline: The PUNCH)