A United States federal judge has sentenced 37-year-old Nigerian national Matthew Abiodun Akande to eight years in prison and ordered him to pay $1.39 million in restitution after he was convicted for his role in a massive tax fraud and cybercrime scheme, U.S. authorities say.

Akande was brought before the U.S. District Court in Boston, Massachusetts, where Judge Indira Talwani handed down the sentence following Akande’s guilty plea to multiple counts tied to the scheme. The rulings come after Akande was extradited from the United Kingdom in March 2025, having first been arrested at Heathrow Airport in October 2024 on federal warrants.

Prosecutors said Akande and at least three co-conspirators broke into the computer networks of several Massachusetts-based tax preparation firms between June 2016 and June 2021, stealing sensitive client data and using it to file more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns in victims’ names. The bogus filings sought refunds in excess of $8.1 million, with more than $1.3 million successfully collected and misappropriated by the ring, officials said.

In addition to the prison term and restitution order, Akande’s sentence includes three years of supervised release following his incarceration. The restitution reflects the government’s efforts to recover stolen funds and compensate the victims whose refunds were fraudulently obtained.

The scheme was dismantled by a coordinated investigation led by the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) division. Officials highlighted the case as part of ongoing efforts to combat international cybercrime and protect U.S. tax systems from fraud and identity theft.

This sentence underscores the serious consequences of cyber-enabled financial crimes and reflects growing global cooperation in prosecuting transnational fraudsters targeting government revenue systems.