Matthew A. Akande, Computer Intrusion and Theft, Massachusetts 2025

BOSTON – In a shocking case of cybercrime, a Nigerian national living in Mexico has been sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in a scheme to break into Massachusetts tax preparation firms’ computer networks and to file fraudulent tax returns.

Mattew A. Akande, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to eight years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Akande was also ordered to pay $1,393,230 in restitution.

Akande was arrested in October 2024 at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom at the request of the United States and extradited to the United States on March 5, 2025. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2022 with several counts of computer intrusion and theft.

The scheme involved stealing taxpayers’ personally identifiable information (PII) from Massachusetts tax preparation firms via phishing attacks and computer intrusions. Akande used the stolen information to cause fraudulent tax returns to be filed seeking refunds. The tax returns directed that the fraudulent tax refunds be deposited in bank accounts opened by coconspirators in the United States.

According to the indictment, Akande and his coconspirators filed more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns seeking over $8.1 million in fraudulent tax refunds over approximately five years. They successfully obtained over $1.3 million in fraudulent tax refunds.

Federal authorities are urging all businesses that suspect they have been the target and/or victim of a cyberattack to file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov. Taxpayers and tax preparation firms that suspect they have been the target and/or victim of a phishing attack can also forward phishing email(s) to phishing@irs.gov.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs coordinated with authorities in the United Kingdom to secure the extradition of Akande. Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Holcomb of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

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