Nigerian extradited from South Africa jailed 90 months for fraud in US

2026-03-21 - 09:44

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced that a Nigerian national, James Junior Aliyu, has been sentenced to 90 months in prison for his role in a wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy involving the hacking of business email systems. In a statement issued on Saturday, the agency said Aliyu would serve the sentence for participating in a scheme that targeted corporate email servers, adding that he was extradited from South Africa to face justice in the United States. ICE disclosed that the court also imposed a $1.2 million forfeiture order and a $2.4 million restitution order against Aliyu, who will be deported upon completing his prison term. Highlighting its involvement, the agency said its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operatives in Maryland and South Africa collaborated with international partners to probe the case. Further details from an August 2025 report by the U.S. Department of Justice showed that Aliyu, 30, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The report noted that he was the last of three defendants to admit guilt in the business email compromise (BEC) scheme, while eight others had earlier pleaded guilty in related cases before the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. U.S. Attorney for the district, Kelly O. Hayes, said the case highlighted the scale of coordinated cyber-enabled fraud, announcing the plea alongside Acting Special Agent in Charge Evan Campanella. Court filings showed that a federal grand jury indicted Aliyu and two others, Kosi Goodness Simon-Ebo and Henry Onyedikachi Echefu, on June 24, 2019, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The indictment was unsealed on July 6, 2022, following their arrests outside the United States, after which the defendants were extradited to face trial.