---
title: SDNY: Nigerian national sentenced to 8 years for spear-phishing US tax-preparation firms, stealing ~800 clients' data and filing $8.4M in fraudulent refund claims ($2.5M paid out) | ctxsec
url: https://ctxsec.com/items/sdny-amachukwu-tax-preparer-hacks-8-years
description: ""
status: "confirmed (DOJ SDNY press release, Oct 19)"
published: 2026-10-20
---

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confirmed (DOJ SDNY press release, Oct 19)

2026-10-20

### SDNY: Nigerian national sentenced to 8 years for spear-phishing US tax-preparation firms, stealing ~800 clients' data and filing $8.4M in fraudulent refund claims ($2.5M paid out)

The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Oct 19 that **Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu** (aka "Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo", "So Kwan Leung"), 40, was sentenced by Judge Paul G. Gardephe to **eight years** in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. From at least 2019, he, co-conspirator Kingsley Uchelue Utulu and other Nigeria-based conspirators used **spear-phishing emails to break into US tax-preparation businesses** in New York, Texas and other states, stealing tax and identity data on at least about 800 customers. They filed fraudulent federal and state returns seeking at least about **$8.4 million** in refunds and got at least about **$2.5 million**, plus about $819,000 in fraudulent SBA disaster-loan (EIDL) payouts. Separately, he ran a fake standby-letter-of-credit investment scheme that netted more than $7 million. He was ordered to pay $3,647,629.39 in restitution and forfeit $10,846,634.39. BleepingComputer reports he was extradited from France in August 2025.

**Takeaway for small firms:** tax preparers are a standing target every filing season. The IRS requires them to have a written information security plan, and MFA on email and tax software is the control that most often breaks this kind of intrusion.

Sources: [DOJ SDNY press release (Oct 19)](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/nigerian-man-sentenced-eight-years-hacking-fraud-and-identity-theft-schemes) · [BleepingComputer](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hacker-gets-8-years-for-stealing-33-million-from-taxpayers/)