A Nigerian national living in Mexico was sentenced in federal court in Boston to eight years in prison for his role in a scheme to break into Massachusetts tax preparation firms’ computer networks and file fraudulent tax returns. Matthew A. Akande, 37, was also ordered to pay $1,393,230 in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release following his imprisonment. He was extradited to the United States on 5 March 2025 after being arrested in October 2024 at Heathrow Airport, United Kingdom.
Between June 2016 and June 2021, Akande and coconspirators used stolen taxpayers’ PII to file more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns seeking over $8.1 million in refunds, of which they obtained over $1.3 million, using phishing and RAT malware such as Warzone RAT. The sentence and related actions were announced by authorities including United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E.
Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division; and Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS’s Criminal Investigations Boston office, according to 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.