Stanley Hugochukwu Nwoke, Business Email Compromise, CT 2023

Stanley Hugochukwu Nwoke, also known as “Stanley Banks,” “Banks,” “Hugo Banks,” “Banky,” and “Jose Calderon,” 28, a citizen of Nigeria, pleaded guilty today in federal court in New Haven to his role in a sweeping business email compromise (BEC) scheme that targeted hundreds of executives across the United States, including CFOs, controllers, and financial officers at schools, nonprofits, and private companies.

U.S. Attorney John H. Durham announced the plea, which was entered before U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall. Nwoke admitted to conspiring with Adeyemi Odufuye and others to send fraudulent emails that appeared to come from legitimate corporate executives—often the CEO—directing victims to wire money to accounts controlled by the conspirators. The scam used spoofed email addresses and, in some cases, malware-laced attachments to trick recipients into releasing funds.

In late 2015, the scheme targeted a company in Torrington, Connecticut, where Odufuye posed as the company’s real CEO and demanded multiple wire transfers exceeding $1 million. The victim company sent five transfers totaling more than $500,000 to accounts in Virginia, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Hong Kong. Another victim was a company headquartered in Waterbury, Connecticut. Investigators found that Nwoke, Odufuye, and Olumuyiwa Yahtrip Adejumo coordinated the attacks using multiple fake email and social media accounts.

Nwoke admitted in court that the loss tied directly to his role was at least $109,100, but federal prosecutors argue the actual damage exceeds $1.8 million. As part of his guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud—a charge carrying a maximum 20-year sentence—he agreed to pay $662,053.87 in restitution. Sentencing is scheduled for August 5, 2019. Nwoke has been in custody since his extradition from Mauritius, where he was arrested on May 8, 2018, and brought to the U.S. on May 25, 2018.

Co-conspirators have already faced justice: Adeyemi Odufuye, formerly of Sheffield, United Kingdom, was sentenced on December 12, 2018, to 45 months in prison and ordered to pay $921,497.87 in restitution. Olumuyiwa Yahtrip Adejumo, formerly of Toledo, Ohio, was sentenced on August 17, 2018, to 15 months behind bars. Both are Nigerian nationals.

The FBI and the Connecticut Cyber Task Force led the investigation, with critical support from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the U.K. National Crime Agency, the Metropolitan Police, and the Mauritius Police Force’s Central Criminal Investigation Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney David T. Huang is prosecuting the case. For tips, contact the FBI in New Haven at 203-777-6311.