Matthew A. Akande, a Nigerian national living in Mexico, was extradited to the United States for his plans to break into the computer network of Massachusetts Tax Preparation Company and file fraudulent tax returns.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced this in a statement issued Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
Akande, 36, was arrested at the request of the United States at the United Kingdom’s Heathrow Airport in October 2024 and was extradited to the United States on March 5, 2025.
He appeared in the Federal Court in Boston today. Akande was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2022, one conspiracy charge to obtain unauthorized access to protected computers to promote fraud and theft of government currency and money laundering; one count of wire fraud; four counts of unauthorized access to protected computers involved in fraud; 13 counts of theft of government funds; and 14 counts of aggravated identity theft.
Kehinde H. Oyetunji, 33, a Nigerian national living in North Dakota, pleaded guilty in December 2022 to a conspiracy to obtain unauthorized access to protected computers to promote fraud and theft of government money and money laundering. Oyetunji’s sentencing hearing has not been arranged by the court.
Between around June 2016 and June 2021, Akande, Oyetunji and others allegedly worked together to steal funds from the U.S. government using taxpayers’ personally identifiable information (PII) to file fraudulent tax returns in the taxpayer’s name. Additionally, around February 2020, the program involved stealing taxpayer PII from Massachusetts Tax Preparation Company through phishing attacks and computer hacks.
To implement the plan, Akande allegedly led to fraudulent phishing emails sent to five Massachusetts tax preparation companies.
The emails are allegedly from potential customers seeking tax preparation companies’ services, but are actually used to trick the company into downloading remote access to Trojan malware, including malware called Warzone Rat.
Akande allegedly used mouse malware to obtain PII of tax preparation company clients and tax information from the previous year, which Akande then used to cause fraudulent tax returns to seek a refund.
The tax return directs the deposit of fraudulent tax refunds into bank accounts allegedly opened by Oyetunji and others. After the refund, Oyetunji and others withdrew the stolen money in the United States and then transferred part of it to a third party in Mexico, allegedly in the direction of Akand while retaining a part of himself.
Overall, Akande and his companions allegedly have filed more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns, seeking more than $8.1 million in fraudulent tax refunds over five years. They allegedly have successfully received a fraudulent tax refund of more than $1.3 million.
The conspiracy charges stipulate that a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervision release, a fine of $250,000 or a loss of two times the total gain or loss, whichever is higher.
The wire fraud charge provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000, or twice the total gain or loss, whichever is higher.
The allegations of unauthorized access to protected computers facilitate fraud, which can be sentenced to up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.
The allegations of theft of government currency provide for up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, fines of $250,000 or double the gross income or loss, whichever is higher.
The charge of aggravated identity theft stipulates that two consecutive years of imprisonment must be sentenced to any other sentence, one year of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or a fine or twice as much as gross gain or loss.
Federal District Court judges rule on criminal cases in accordance with U.S. judgment guidelines and regulations.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jodi Cohen, an agent in charge of the FBI in Boston; Thomas Demeo, an agent in charge of the IRS’ criminal investigation in Boston.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs coordinated with the British authorities to ensure the extradition of Akander. David M. Holcomb, an assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Securities, Finance and Cyber Fraud Division, is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are the allegations. The defendant is innocent unless and proved guilty outside of reasonable suspicion in the court.
