Mexico-Based Nigerian Sentenced to Eight Years for $1.3 Million U.S. Tax Fraud
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A Nigerian national residing in Mexico has been sentenced to eight years in a United States federal prison for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar tax fraud scheme.
The convict, 37-year-old Matthew A. Akande, was handed the sentence by Judge Indira Talwani at a federal court in Boston. He was also ordered to pay $1,393,230 in restitution to the U.S. government.
According to the United States Department of Justice, Akande and his accomplices filed over 1,000 fraudulent tax returns over a five-year period. The group sought more than $8.1 million in refunds and successfully obtained about $1.3 million by using stolen personal information belonging to taxpayers.
Investigators said the syndicate targeted tax preparation firms in Massachusetts through phishing emails disguised as legitimate client inquiries. The emails were used to trick staff into downloading remote access malware, including a program known as Warzone RAT. Once installed, the software enabled the theft of clients’ personal data and prior tax records.
Using the compromised information, the conspirators submitted false tax returns to claim refunds. Authorities disclosed that once the refunds were issued, co-conspirators in the United States withdrew the funds in cash and transferred portions to contacts in Mexico at Akande’s direction, keeping some of the proceeds for themselves.
Akande was arrested in October 2024 at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom. He was later extradited to the United States on March 5, 2025, to face prosecution.
A federal grand jury had earlier indicted him in July 2022 on multiple charges, including conspiracy to access protected computers to commit fraud, wire fraud, theft of government funds, unauthorised computer access, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.
The sentencing brings to a close a case federal authorities described as a coordinated cyber-enabled fraud operation that exploited vulnerabilities in tax preparation systems and compromised sensitive taxpayer information.
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