A Côte d’Ivoire national has been indicted in a $14 million fraud scheme in the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs announced on July 31. Koffi Dongo Parfait Teya, 30, was charged by a federal grand jury with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and unauthorized use of an access device.
According to the indictment, Teya and associates used an email phishing scheme that targeted travel agencies with deceptive messages. The emails claimed to be from the company managing airline reservations for these agencies and stated that a security update required their login credentials. Employees who responded were directed to fake websites resembling the legitimate reservation system’s login page; once credentials were entered, they were stolen by the group. Using this information, the conspirators accessed real reservation systems and booked airline tickets at the expense of agency accounts. The total losses amounted to about $14 million across approximately 430 travel agencies.
Teya was arrested in Côte d’Ivoire with cooperation from local law enforcement authorities but will not be extradited to face charges in Texas; instead, charges are expected to be pursued against him locally.
The case is part of Operation Riptide, an FBI campaign aimed at disrupting cyber-enabled crime and fraud impacting Americans through organized criminal networks and online services that often cross international borders. These schemes have been described as particularly damaging for family-owned and small businesses due to resulting closures or financial hardship.
The FBI is investigating this case while Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Jackson is prosecuting it. “A federal indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” according to the announcement.
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas supports victims through dedicated services, operates offices across several cities including Tyler and Beaumont, employs about 100 staff members (with roughly 50 assistant attorneys), prosecutes federal crimes alongside civil litigation matters as part of the Department of Justice, and covers 43 counties in East Texas, according to its official website.