Nigerian Man Junior Aliyu Sentenced To 90 Months In Prison

A Nigerian national, James Junior Aliyu, has been sentenced to 90 months in prison in the United States for his involvement in a large-scale wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

Aliyu, who was arrested and extradited from South Africa, was the last of three defendants to plead guilty in connection with a business email compromise (BEC) scheme.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the sentencing in a statement on Saturday, March 21, 2026. In addition to his prison term, the court ordered him to forfeit $1.2 million and pay $2.4 million in restitution to victims. He is also expected to be deported after completing his sentence.

ICE stated that Aliyu played a key role in planning and executing the scheme, which involved hacking business email systems. Authorities noted that he was extradited to face justice and that Homeland Security Investigations agents in Maryland and South Africa collaborated on the case.

Aliyu, who lived in South Africa at the time of the crimes, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Eight other defendants had earlier pleaded guilty in separate but related cases in the District of Maryland.

On June 24, 2019, a federal grand jury indicted Aliyu alongside Kosi Goodness Simon-Ebo and Henry Onyedikachi Echefu. All three, Nigerian citizens residing in South Africa at the time, were later arrested and extradited to the United States after the indictment was unsealed on July 6, 2022.

According to court documents, between February and July 2017, Aliyu and his co-conspirators carried out a BEC scheme by gaining unauthorized access to email accounts belonging to individuals and businesses. They sent fraudulent wiring instructions using spoofed email addresses to trick victims into transferring funds into accounts they controlled, commonly known as “drop accounts.”

The group also engaged in money laundering by moving the stolen funds through various transactions, including bank transfers, cash withdrawals, cashier’s checks, and payments to third parties, in an effort to conceal the origin of the money.

Investigations revealed that the intended loss tied to Aliyu’s activities exceeded $4.16 million, with actual losses amounting to at least $1.57 million. He was found to have directly controlled over $1.19 million of the stolen funds and is required to pay a money judgment of at least that amount, along with full restitution to victims totaling no less than $2.38 million.