On Wednesday, March 5, 2025, a Nigerian man named Matthew A. Akande, 36, was extradited to the United States to face charges for allegedly being involved in a major cybercrime operation. Akande, who had been living in Mexico, is accused of hacking into tax preparation firms in Massachusetts to file fraudulent tax returns.
Akande was arrested in October 2024 at Heathrow Airport, U.K., following a request from U.S. authorities. He appeared in a federal court in Boston after his extradition.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Akande was indicted in July 2022 and faces serious charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud, theft of government funds, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.
Akande’s co-conspirator, Kehinde H. Oyetunji, 33, a Nigerian living in North Dakota, had already pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2022. Oyetunji’s sentencing date has not been set yet.
Authorities claim that from 2016 to 2021, Akande and his partners used phishing attacks and malware to steal taxpayer information from tax preparation firms. They allegedly filed over 1,000 fraudulent tax returns, requesting more than $8.1 million in refunds, and successfully obtained $1.3 million.
Once the refunds were issued, Oyetunji and others are said to have withdrawn the money and transferred part of it to Mexico under Akande’s direction.
If found guilty, Akande could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud, in addition to other penalties for the other charges.
The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley, FBI Special Agent Jodi Cohen, and IRS Special Agent Thomas Demeo. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs coordinated Akande’s extradition.
