US Air Force pair get 111 and 78 months in jail over $2.4m email fraud

A US federal judge has sent two men who were serving in the United States Air Force to prison over a phishing and email-fraud scheme that diverted about $2.4 million, the US Department of Justice announced on Tuesday, 29 September. Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu, 25, got 111 months and Harafat Mogaji, 26, got 78 months.

That is nine years and three months for Odimegwu and six years and six months for Mogaji, handed down in the Southern District of Iowa on Friday, 25 September. Both also face three years of supervised release, and the court ordered them to repay a combined $1.36 million.

On Nigerian social media the case landed on Wednesday as “two Yahoo boys bag 15 years”. The real numbers are a little different, and the detail matters.

What did the two Air Force members do?

Odimegwu and Mogaji ran phishing campaigns to steal the email logins of employees at US businesses, then used spoofed addresses to slip into payment conversations and redirect money into accounts they controlled, according to the Justice Department. The scheme ran for nearly two years, from 2023 to 2025, WBOC reported.

The biggest single hit was more than $1.68 million diverted from a victim in Iowa City, Iowa. Another victim in Ohio lost more than $720,000. The pair also harvested card numbers, PINs and account details, including from a non-profit in Pella, Iowa, and bought stolen card data from co-conspirators “both in the United States and abroad”, the department said. Both lived in Delaware and were stationed at Dover Air Force Base, where the FBI’s Omaha office and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations built the case.

Did they each get 15 years?

No. The 15-year figure going round comes from adding the two sentences together: 111 months plus 78 months makes 189 months, or 15 years and nine months in total. Each man serves his own term.

The restitution is also split. Odimegwu must repay $366,617.59 and Mogaji $995,680.45. At the official rate of about ₦1,330 to the dollar on Wednesday, 30 September, the $2.4 million diverted is roughly ₦3.2bn, and the combined restitution is about ₦1.8bn.

The Justice Department describes both men as residents of Delaware and does not give their nationality. Several Nigerian blogs have called them Nigerian; GistMatrix could not confirm that from any official record.

How does a business email scam work?

A business email compromise, or BEC, scam works by getting inside a real company’s email and changing where the money goes. The fraudster watches an invoice conversation, then sends a convincing message, often from a lookalike address, with new bank details. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has for years ranked BEC among the costliest online crimes reported in the United States.

What happens next

Both men were taken into custody after sentencing on 25 September, according to the Justice Department release. As of 6pm WAT on Wednesday, 30 September, no statement from either man or their lawyers had been reported in the coverage GistMatrix reviewed, and no appeal had been reported.

FAQ

Who are Chijioke Odimegwu and Harafat Mogaji?
They are two Delaware residents, aged 25 and 26, who were members of the US Air Force stationed at Dover Air Force Base when they ran a phishing and email-fraud scheme, according to the US Justice Department.

How long were they jailed for?
Odimegwu got 111 months (9 years, 3 months) and Mogaji 78 months (6 years, 6 months), 189 months combined, on 25 September 2026.

How much must they pay back?
The court ordered $366,617.59 from Odimegwu and $995,680.45 from Mogaji, about $1.36 million in total.

Should the “Yahoo boys” label follow every fraud case with a Nigerian-sounding name? Tell us in the comments.

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