A Nigerian national, James Junior Aliyu, has been sentenced to 90 months in prison in the United States for his role in a large-scale wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
Aliyu, who was arrested and extradited from South Africa to the United States, is the last of three defendants to plead guilty in connection with a business email compromise (BEC) scheme.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the sentence in a statement on Saturday, March 21, 2026.
In addition to his prison term, the court ordered Aliyu to forfeit $1.2 million and pay $2.4 million in restitution to victims affected by the fraud. ICE also disclosed that he will be deported from the United States upon completing his sentence.
“James Junior Aliyu, a Nigerian national, will serve a 90-month sentence for his role in a wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy after planning to hack business email servers,” the statement read.
“Aliyu was extradited from South Africa to face justice. He was also ordered to forfeit $1.2 million and pay $2.4 million in restitution, and will be removed from the United States upon completion of his sentence.
“ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents in Maryland and South Africa were proud to be part of the international team that investigated this case.”
Aliyu, who was residing in South Africa at the time of the crimes, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
Eight other defendants had earlier pleaded guilty in the District of Maryland in separate cases linked to the same conspiracy. On June 24, 2019, a federal grand jury indicted Aliyu alongside Kosi Goodness Simon-Ebo, 30, and Henry Onyedikachi Echefu, 31, on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. All three are Nigerian citizens who were living in South Africa at the time.
Federal authorities unsealed the indictment on July 6, 2022, following the defendants’ arrests outside the United States. All three were subsequently extradited to face federal charges.
According to court documents, between February and July 2017, Aliyu and his co-conspirators carried out a BEC scheme by gaining unauthorized access to email accounts belonging to individuals and businesses.
They sent fraudulent wire transfer instructions using spoofed email addresses to trick victims into transferring money into bank accounts controlled by the group, commonly referred to as “drop accounts.”
During the same period, the group also engaged in money laundering activities, moving the illicit proceeds through various accounts to conceal their origin. This included transferring funds, withdrawing cash, obtaining cashier’s checks, and issuing payments to other individuals and entities.
The plea agreement revealed that the intended loss from transactions directly linked to Aliyu was at least $4,162,211.65, while the actual loss amounted to at least $1,570,475.
Aliyu directly controlled no less than $1,194,565 of the stolen funds.
Under the terms of the agreement, he is required to pay a money judgment of at least $1,194,565, as well as full restitution to victims, estimated at a minimum of $2,389,130.
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