纽约南区判刑：男子黑入报税公司盗用身份骗税被判8年
美国纽约南区联邦检察官办公室宣布，尼日利亚籍男子 Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu（又名 Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo、So Kwan Leung）因参与多起欺诈、黑客入侵与身份盗窃犯罪，被联邦地区法官 Paul G. Gardephe 判处八年监禁。他此前已就串谋实施计算机入侵与串谋实施电信欺诈两项罪名认罪。联邦检察官 Jamie McDonald 公布了判决。
根据起诉书、公开法庭文件与法庭陈述，至少自2019年起，Amachukwu 与同谋 Kingsley Uchelue Utulu 及其他身在尼日利亚的同伙，用鱼叉式钓鱼邮件入侵美国多家报税公司的电子系统，窃取至少约800名客户的税务与身份信息，受害公司分布在纽约州、德克萨斯州等地。他们利用窃得的成千上万人的身份信息向国税局 IRS 与州税务机关提交虚假退税申请，企图骗取至少约840万美元退税，实际得手至少约250万美元；他们还用窃得身份向小企业局 SBA 的经济伤害灾难贷款项目提交虚假申请，骗得至少约81.9万美元。此外，Amachukwu 冒充富有的海外金融家，向美国受害人推销并不存在的备用信用证投资，骗得逾700万美元。
除八年监禁外，现年40岁的 Amachukwu 还被判一年监督释放，并被责令支付赔偿金3,647,629.39美元、没收10,846,634.39美元。此案由联邦调查局 FBI 调查，纽约南区检察官办公室复杂欺诈与网络犯罪组负责起诉，助理联邦检察官 Daniel G. Nessim 主办。
Man Sentenced in New York: Eight Years for Hacking Tax Firms and Identity Theft Schemes
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, also known as Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo and So Kwan Leung, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe to eight years in prison for his role in multiple fraud, hacking and identity theft offenses. He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald made the announcement.
According to the superseding indictments, public court filings and statements made in court, beginning in at least 2019, Amachukwu, his co-conspirator Kingsley Uchelue Utulu and other Nigeria-based conspirators used spearphishing emails to break into the electronic systems of U.S. tax preparation businesses in New York, Texas and other states, stealing the tax and identifying information of at least approximately 800 customers and, in total, thousands of individuals. They used the stolen information to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state tax authorities, seeking at least approximately $8.4 million in fraudulent refunds and successfully obtaining at least approximately $2.5 million. They also used stolen identities to obtain at least approximately $819,000 from the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. In a separate scheme, Amachukwu impersonated a wealthy overseas financier to sell victims investments in standby letters of credit that did not exist, pocketing more than $7 million.
In addition to the prison term, Amachukwu, 40, of Nigeria, was sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $3,647,629.39 and forfeiture of $10,846,634.39. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the case, which is being handled by the Office's Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Nessim in charge of the prosecution.
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：联邦调查局 FBI 总部大楼，华盛顿（资料图），来源 Wikimedia Commons，开放授权。Photo: FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. (file photo), via Wikimedia Commons.
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