Michele Beckwith Acting U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California
A federal grand jury has indicted Jafaar September Nyangoro, 52, from Franklin, Tennessee, and Peter Bah Acha, 45, from Berlin, Germany. They face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud Fresno County. This was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith.
Court documents reveal that before September 14, 2020, Nyangoro and Acha allegedly gained unauthorized access to an email account belonging to the finance director of a Fresno nonprofit. They used this access to submit fraudulent invoices for payment via Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions. By impersonating the finance director, they misled Fresno County into believing that the nonprofit's bank account information had changed. Consequently, payments were redirected to a new bank account opened by Nyangoro.
Between September 24 and October 13, 2020, over $1.5 million was transferred from Fresno County to Nyangoro's bank account instead of the nonprofit's account. Communication between Nyangoro, Acha, and others occurred through various means including WhatsApp. On October 16, 2020, after some ACH transfers were reversed due to suspected fraud by Regions Bank, Nyangoro sent a message stating: “We’re in deep s***. The last 3 transactions from County of Fresno have been reversed. Please call me ASAP!”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to these charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Gappa is handling the prosecution.
Nyangoro was detained by a magistrate judge in Nashville on May 14, 2025; he will appear in court in Fresno at a later date.
If found guilty, both Nyangoro and Acha could face up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000 per count for conspiracy and wire fraud charges. Sentencing would be determined based on statutory factors and Federal Sentencing Guidelines after considering all relevant variables. It is important to note that these are allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
