Kenyan Man to Be Deported After Serving Sentence in $12 Million US Fraud Case
John Miriuki Wamuigah, 36, will be deported to Kenya after completing a prison sentence in the United States for his role in an international online fraud scheme.
Wamuigah was sentenced to just under two years in prison by US District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven, Connecticut. Having already spent 23 months in custody, the court deemed his sentence served. He will now be handed over to U.S. immigration authorities for removal.
According to the US Department of Justice, Wamuigah participated in a sophisticated business email compromise operation that stole approximately $12 million (Sh1.55 billion) from victims in multiple countries. The scheme was led by Nigerian national Okechuckwu Valentine Osuji, who coordinated a network of accomplices posing as legitimate business contacts to trick companies and individuals into transferring funds.
Court documents show that Wamuigah falsified documents, including invoices and contracts, under Osuji’s direction. These documents were used to convince victims that the payments were legitimate business transactions.
The operation relied on “money mules,” some knowingly involved and others misled through romance scams, to move the stolen funds through various accounts before returning them to the ringleaders. The scheme targeted a range of organisations over several years, including a financial services firm in Connecticut and a performing arts non-profit in Alaska.
Each organisation believed it was making legitimate payments before discovering the funds had been diverted. Wamuigah fled the United States after the crimes and was arrested in Malaysia in 2022 following a request from US authorities. After extensive extradition proceedings, he returned to the United States in 2025 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Osuji, the operation’s mastermind, was convicted in 2024 and sentenced to eight years in prison. Another associate, Nigerian citizen Tolulope Bodunde, received a two-year sentence.
The investigation was led by the FBI’s New Haven Field Office and the Stamford Police Department, with support from Malaysian authorities. Prosecutors noted that the case demonstrates the global scale of cyber-enabled fraud and the importance of international cooperation in prosecuting such crimes.
