The sentence, handed down on Tuesday, February 16, an $11 million wire fraud which committed between 2015 and 2019.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Raj Parekh, said “Through subterfuge and impersonation, Okeke engaged in a multi-year global business email and computer hacking scheme that caused a staggering $11 million in losses to his victims.
“Today’s sentence further demonstrates EDVA’s and FBI’s worldwide reach in vigorously pursuing justice on behalf of American victims and others and holding international cybercriminals accountable, no matter where they commit their crimes.”
Okeke and other conspirators had engaged in an email compromise scheme targeting Unatrac Holding Limited, the export sales office for Caterpillar heavy industrial and farm equipment.
In April 2018, a Unatrac executive fell prey to a phishing email that allowed conspirators to capture login credentials.
The conspirators sent fraudulent wire transfer requests and attached fake invoices. Invictus Obi participated in the effort to victimise Unatrac through fraudulent wire transfers totalling nearly $11 million, which was transferred overseas.
Additionally, he also engaged in other forms of cyber fraud, including sending phishing emails to capture email credentials, creating fraudulent web pages, and causing other losses to numerous victims.
In 2016, Okeke was honoured as one of Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30 List before his arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over $11 million wire fraud in 2019. Following his arrest, a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the permanent forfeiture of Okeke’s N280,555,010 to the Federal Government.
His defense lawyers argued that he should never have been arrested and charged to court in the US because there is no evidence that he defrauded American citizens or companies.