The United States of America has committed to utilizing all of its legal powers at its disposal to bring individuals responsible for internet fraud in the country or who have victimized its citizens to justice.
According to the country’s legal office, cyber fraud schemes target the most vulnerable populations in the United States and cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year in losses.
Attorney Ashley C. Hoff, the Western District of Texas’s chief federal law enforcement officer, stated this at a court session on Wednesday while prosecuting a Nigerian citizen, Olumide Bankole Morakinyo.
A prison term of eight years and a financial penalty of $975,863 were imposed on Morakinyo.
“This Defendant’s scheme, and others like it, prey on our most vulnerable residents while costing taxpayers billions of dollars every year,” the attorney general said. According to Hoff, “Our office will utilize all of the legal tools at our disposal to identify and bring to justice individuals who perpetrate cyber-enabled fraud and launder the proceeds.”
U.S. Special Agent Richard Goss of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation has committed to continue to prosecute criminals who prey on innocent victims, taking their identities and using them to perpetrate tax and other crimes in the future.
“Today’s sentencing of Olumide Morakinyo demonstrates how seriously the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) and our law enforcement partners take the issue of identity theft. This sentencing should send a clear message to would-be criminals that they will be caught and punished,” Goss said.
However, FBI Special Agent in Charge, Christopher Combs expresses gratitude to the United States Attorney’s Office, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, and the Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Texas Rangers Public Integrity Unit for their collaboration, dedication, and hard work on the case.
We were able to hold Morakinyo accountable for his role in the fraud scheme, which caused hardship and suffering to victims in Texas as well as other parts of the United States because we worked together, he said.
