A 40-year-old Nigerian national has been sentenced to eight years in prison for a spearphishing and fraud operation that compromised U.S. tax preparation businesses and exposed sensitive information belonging to at least 800 customers.
The sentence against Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu was reported on October 20, 2026. The report does not state when the sentencing took place.
Amachukwu, also known as Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo and So Kwan Leung, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud. He was extradited from France to the United States in August 2025.
In addition to the prison term, Amachukwu received one year of supervised release. He was ordered to pay $3.6 million in restitution and forfeit nearly $11 million.
Stolen tax data used for fraudulent refund claims
From 2019 onward, Amachukwu and his alleged co-conspirators targeted tax preparation businesses with spearphishing messages designed to obtain unauthorized access to their computers. Attacks identified in New York, Texas and other states took place between 2019 and 2021.
The intrusions exposed tax records and personally identifiable information associated with at least 800 customers. The number refers to customers whose information was stolen, not the number of tax preparation firms compromised.
According to the report, the group used the stolen data to submit approximately $8.4 million in fraudulent refund claims to the Internal Revenue Service and state tax authorities. About $2.5 million was paid out.
The conspirators also filed fraudulent applications under the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, obtaining another $819,000. Together, the tax refunds and loan proceeds amounted to more than $3 million.
Amachukwu carried out the operation with co-defendant Kingsley Uchelue Utulu and other Nigerian co-conspirators, according to the reported court documents.
For affected customers, the campaign went beyond the exposure of personal records: their identities and tax information were actively used to seek government payments. Tax preparation businesses were the initial intrusion targets, while their customers bore the consequences of the resulting data theft and identity misuse.
Separate investment fraud took more than $7 million
Amachukwu was also involved in a separate investment scheme that offered supposed “standby letters of credit” to victims in the United States. The investments did not exist, and the fraudsters took more than $7 million from multiple victims.
That amount is distinct from the proceeds obtained through fraudulent tax refunds and disaster-loan applications. It should not be included in the roughly $3.3 million derived from the tax-related and Small Business Administration fraud.
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said Amachukwu “believed he was operating safely offshore” but “has now been held to account.” McDonald described the crimes as causing “significant harm” both to individual victims and to the public.
