Two former members of the United States Air Force, Odimegwu, 25, and Mogaji, 26, have been sentenced to 111 months and 78 months in prison respectively for their roles in a cyber fraud scheme targeting businesses across the United States.
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, David C. Waterman, announced the sentences in a statement issued by the Department of Justice on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
Odimegwu and Mogaji were sentenced on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026.
According to court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, the pair, who were members of the U.S. Air Force at the time, spent nearly two years attacking business victims across the country through email spamming and phishing campaigns to steal usernames and passwords for employee email accounts.
They and their co-conspirators then used the stolen credentials and spoofed email addresses mimicking those of victims or their business partners to communicate with victims and redirect payments to accounts controlled by the conspiracy.
Working with co-conspirators in the United States and abroad, Odimegwu and Mogaji fraudulently diverted more than $1.68 million sent by a victim in Iowa City, Iowa, to a bank account in Chicago controlled by the conspiracy.
They also diverted more than $720,000 sent by a victim in Ohio to a bank account controlled by the conspiracy.
The pair also made several other attempts to divert wire transfers made by businesses in Iowa and across the United States.
As part of their spamming and phishing campaigns, Odimegwu and Mogaji harvested financial information from victims, including bank account numbers, personal identification numbers and credit and debit card details.
They also purchased similar stolen information from co-conspirators and used the information to make or attempt financial transactions and purchases without the victims’ knowledge or authorisation.
Odimegwu was sentenced to 111 months in prison and ordered to pay $366,617.59 in restitution, while Mogaji was sentenced to 78 months and ordered to pay $995,680.45 in restitution.
Both were taken into custody following sentencing.
After completing their prison terms, they will each serve three years of supervised release.
“When cyber intrusion schemes target businesses and nonprofits in our communities, we will aggressively surge resources to protect the American people and their life savings,” said Eugene Kowel, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Omaha Field Office.
He said the case demonstrated that cybercriminals who target communities would be held accountable, adding that individuals and organisations should take steps to protect their devices and systems and learn to recognise and avoid scams.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case with assistance from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Lubben prosecuted the case.
