A Nigerian national, Edikan Adiakpan, has been sentenced to 30 months in a United States federal prison for transferring proceeds from an email fraud scheme that defrauded more than 10 victims.
Adiakpan, 35, a Houston resident, will also serve three years of supervised release after completing his prison term, following an order by US District Judge Andrew Hanen.
According to a statement issued by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas on Thursday, Adiakpan pleaded guilty on May 12 to his role in the scheme, which operated between 2020 and 2022.
The court heard that he used a company he controlled, Akama Lifestyle, advertised as a luxury car service, to receive and transfer money for fraudsters in exchange for a percentage of the proceeds.
Investigators found that the funds originated from a business email compromise scheme in which fraudsters sent spoofed emails that appeared to come from legitimate suppliers and creditors.
The emails tricked victims into transferring payments into bank accounts controlled by the criminals instead of paying their actual suppliers.
One victim, a small utility trailer company in Mississippi, lost $927,080 after being deceived into wiring money intended for its trailer supplier.
The money was sent to fraudsters in Houston, who subsequently transferred portions of the proceeds to Adiakpan.
According to prosecutors, Adiakpan deposited and cashed several cashier’s cheques payable to himself and his exotic car company, involving $359,000 of the victim’s money.
The victim company submitted a statement to the court detailing the impact of the fraud on its operations.
Another Nigerian, Ayobami Omoniyi, 27, was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison on March 24 for his role in the same scheme.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Houston office and its Bryan Resident Agency, alongside the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division, investigated the case.
Assistant US Attorney Belinda Beek prosecuted the case.
Adiakpan, who is originally from Nigeria, had temporary legal status in the United States at the time of his arrest, the statement said.
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