Nigerian national sentenced to 8 years for hacking tax prep firms

Past-week coverage · Original source published 2026-10-20.

A Nigerian national who took part in a group that hacked U.S. tax preparation businesses and used stolen customer data for fraud was sentenced to eight years in federal prison, The Record reported.

Chukwuemeka Amachukwu was extradited from France last year on fraud, hacking and identity theft charges and pleaded guilty. U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe also imposed one year of supervised release and ordered restitution of more than $3.6 million.

Prosecutors said Amachukwu led a group that used spearphishing emails to breach tax preparation businesses dating back to 2019. Court documents showed he worked with Kingsley Uchelue Utulu and other Nigeria-based hackers to steal information on about 800 business customers, then filed fraudulent state and federal tax returns seeking about $8.4 million in refunds and obtaining $2.5 million.

The group also used stolen data to file claims with the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, receiving about $819,000, according to the report. Prosecutors said Amachukwu separately earned more than $7 million by impersonating wealthy overseas businessmen and offering fake standby letters of credit.

Utulu was sentenced to five years in June after being arrested in the U.K.

For defenders at accounting and tax firms, the case is a reminder that a single phishing email to an employee can expose a whole client base. Limiting who can reach client tax data, watching for unusual return filings and verifying refund or loan applications against the client directly are reasonable controls.