U.S. Department of Justice sentences Temitope Bashua and Uchechukwu Gideon Eze to a combined 51 months in prison for cybercrime, unemployment fraud and business email compromise.
The United States Department of Justice has announced the conviction and sentencing of two US-based Nigerians, Temitope Bashua and Uchechukwu Gideon Eze, for their involvement in separate fraud schemes totalling $472,000. The sentences, delivered in two federal courts, amount to a combined prison term of four years and three months.
According to statements obtained from the U.S. DoJ, 29-year-old Bashua was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for his role in a conspiracy involving cyber intrusion, romance fraud, unemployment insurance fraud, and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) scams.
Court documents revealed that between May 2020 and September 2022, Bashua and other co-conspirators submitted fraudulent unemployment claims using stolen personal information belonging to unsuspecting victims in Maryland and California. They also filed fictitious EIDL applications with the Small Business Administration, resulting in Bashua personally receiving over $290,000 in illicit proceeds.
The DoJ noted that fraudulent applications were filed using victims’ identities without their knowledge or consent. U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher handed down his sentence on Thursday following his guilty plea.
In a separate case, 46-year-old Uchechukwu Gideon Eze was sentenced to 21 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $182,201.80 in restitution for a business email compromise scheme targeting a small business in Clark County, Indiana.
Investigators said Eze and overseas collaborators created an email address nearly identical to that of the victim company, impersonated its representatives, and redirected legitimate business payments into a bank account he controlled under a fictitious entity named Blue Horizon Automobile LLC. After receiving the funds, Eze drained the account, using part of the stolen money to purchase a new vehicle.
Upon discovery of the fraud, Eze fled the United States but was arrested six months later while attempting to re-enter from Canada. He later pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced accordingly.
The DoJ said both convictions form part of ongoing efforts to curb international cyber-enabled financial crimes, which continue to target individuals, government programmes, and small businesses across the U.S.
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