Overview
- U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani also imposed three years of supervised release and set restitution at $1,393,230.
- Akande, 37, a Nigerian national living in Mexico, was arrested at Heathrow in October 2024 and extradited to the United States in March 2025, where he has remained in custody.
- He pleaded guilty in April 2025 to all 33 counts from a July 2022 indictment, including conspiracy, wire fraud, computer intrusions, theft of government funds, and aggravated identity theft.
- Targeted phishing struck five Massachusetts tax-preparation firms, installing remote-access malware to steal PII and prior-year tax data used to seek more than $8.1 million and obtain over $1.3 million in refunds.
- Fraudulent refunds were funneled into U.S. bank accounts controlled by co-conspirators, with cash forwarded to associates in Mexico; one identified co-conspirator is Kehinde Hussein Oyetunji.