Former Air Force members sentenced for BEC
Two former US Air Force members stationed at Dover Air Force Base have been sentenced to a combined 189 months in prison for a business email compromise
Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu, 25, and Harafat Mogaji, 26, were sentenced to federal prison for a business email compromise and phishing scheme that diverted over $2.4 million in wire transfers. Both were former members of the United States Air Force who conducted the attacks while stationed at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The combined prison sentence totals 189 months.
Odimegwu received a 111-month prison term and was ordered to pay $366,617.59 in restitution. Mogaji was sentenced to 78 months in prison and must pay $995,680.45 in restitution. Both will serve a three-year term on supervised release after completing their federal prison terms and were taken into custody after sentencing.
The nearly two-year campaign involved sending spam and phishing emails to businesses across the United States. They stole usernames and passwords for employee email accounts. Using these stolen credentials and spoofed email addresses that mimicked business partners, they communicated with victims to redirect payments to accounts controlled by accomplices in the United States and abroad.
Specific fraudulent transactions
They fraudulently diverted a wire transfer of more than $1.68 million from a victim in Iowa City, Iowa, to a bank account in Chicago. Another wire transfer of over $720,000 was taken from an Ohio victim. The pair also harvested credit card information for a victim non-profit located in Pella, Iowa.
Methods of financial theft
Odimegwu and Mogaji made and attempted unauthorized financial transactions using stolen personal and financial information. This included account information, PINs, and credit and debit card numbers. They bought stolen financial data from co-conspirators and shared stolen financial data with each other. Attackers drain accounts using money mules or transfer funds to other controlled accounts to evade freezing orders.
Broader context of BEC threats
This case shows the persistent danger of business email compromise scams, which the FBI links to over $3 billion in annual losses. BEC scams involve redirecting legitimate corporate payments to attacker-controlled bank accounts using compromised email addresses. Such attacks can severely impact victims' operations due to massive financial losses.
The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report logged 24,768 BEC complaints last year. Losses exceeded $3 billion. Both offenders will serve a three-year term of supervised release after completing their federal prison sentences.
