Joshua S. Levy, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts
A Nigerian national, Matthew A. Akande, has been extradited to the United States from Mexico to face charges related to computer intrusion and theft. Akande, 36, was arrested in October 2024 at Heathrow Airport in the UK following a request by the United States. He was brought to Boston on March 5, 2025, where he appeared in federal court.
Akande is facing multiple charges including conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to protected computers for fraud purposes, wire fraud, unauthorized computer access, theft of government money, and aggravated identity theft. The indictment was issued by a federal grand jury in July 2022.
Kehinde H. Oyetunji, another Nigerian national involved in the scheme and residing in North Dakota, pleaded guilty in December 2022 to similar charges but has not yet been sentenced.
The alleged criminal activities took place between June 2016 and June 2021. Akande and his associates are accused of using taxpayers' personal information obtained through phishing attacks on Massachusetts tax preparation firms to file fraudulent tax returns. They allegedly filed over 1,000 false returns seeking more than $8.1 million in refunds and successfully obtained over $1.3 million.
Akande reportedly sent phishing emails disguised as inquiries from potential clients to five tax preparation firms. These emails contained remote access trojan malware like Warzone RAT which allowed him access to sensitive client data used for filing fraudulent returns. The refunds were then deposited into bank accounts opened by Oyetunji and others who withdrew the funds and transferred portions to third parties in Mexico under Akande's direction.
Federal authorities urge businesses targeted by cyberattacks to report incidents via the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov and advise victims of phishing attacks to forward emails to phishing@irs.gov.
Charges against Akande carry significant penalties including up to 20 years imprisonment for wire fraud and mandatory sentences for aggravated identity theft among others. Sentencing will be determined based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines by a federal district court judge.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley announced the extradition alongside Jodi Cohen of the FBI Boston Division and Thomas Demeo from IRS Criminal Investigations in Boston. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs coordinated with UK authorities for Akande's extradition while Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Holcomb is prosecuting the case.
The allegations remain unproven until guilt is established beyond reasonable doubt in court.
