James Campbell, Wire Fraud, Texas 2019

HOUSTON – A 53-year-old Houston man has just been ordered to prison following his conviction of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.

James Campbell and co-defendant Hammed Akinola, a Nigerian citizen, entered guilty pleas October 9, 2019.

Today, U.S. District Judge David Hittner sentenced Campbell to 90 months in prison. At a hearing on April 12, 2019, Judge Hittner upwardly departed from the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and ordered Akinola to serve 180 months in federal prison.

According to authorities, Campbell and Akinola were involved in an international wire fraud conspiracy that consisted primarily of Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud which targeted businesses and individuals that regularly perform wire transfer payments.

The international co-conspirators hacked into the victims' accounts and sent what appeared to the victims to be legitimate emails from banks or title companies. The victims, tricked into thinking such emails were from the bank or title companies, would then transfer the money to the accounts the defendants controlled, not knowing they were fraudulent emails.

In total, Campbell and Akinola's activity participating in the scheme and laundering its proceeds resulted in victims of BEC fraud transferring or attempting to transfer $10.3 million into accounts they controlled.

Campbell and Akinola then recruited 20 other individuals who did open bank accounts to receive fraudulent funds. The proceeds of the fraud scheme were disbursed between the account holders, Campbell, Akinola and international accomplices.

Both have been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Suzanne Elmilady and Melissa Annis are prosecuting the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/two-sentenced-victimizing-many-across-nation