The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its dedication and support in bursting a high profile Business E-mail Compromise (BEC) fraud in Dallas, Texas, which led to the arrest and eventual conviction of a Nigerian, Amechi Colvis Amuegbunam.

It acknowledged that the “intelligence obtained by the EFCC and provided to the FBI via Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty” was instrumental in identifying the BEC scheme and Amuegbunam’s specific role.

“The Dallas Field Office, Legal Attaché Office, and both the FBI’s Criminal and Cyber Divisions are extremely appreciative of the EFCC as a joint partner in the pursuit of global justice for the many victims of these BEC related crimes,” the FBI further said.

Amuegbunam, 30, who was on a student visa in the US, was sentenced to 46 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $615,555.12 in restitution for his role in BEC scheme that caused $3.7 million loss to US companies.

The convict and other individuals were said to have between November 2013 and August 2015 sent fraudulent emails to companies in the Northern District of Texas and elsewhere containing misrepresentations that caused the companies to wire transfer funds as instructed on a pdf document that was attached to the email.

Investigation into the crime followed reports by two companies in the Dallas Fort Worth area to the FBI Dallas Office that they had received targeted spear phishing emails allegedly from a top executive at a company authorising the company’s accounting department to make financial transfers for the company, a source that was traced to Amuegbunam.

After complying with the spear-phishing email instructions to transfer funds, the companies became victims of the BEC scheme.

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