A Tennessee man has pleaded guilty in federal court for defrauding Fresno County.
U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced that Jafaar September Nyangoro, 53, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Driving the news: Nyangoro and co-defendant Peter Bah Acha, who lives in Germany, secretly gained control of an email account used by the finance director of a Fresno nonprofit before September 2020.
They used the account to submit fraudulent invoices to Fresno County for payment, posing as the finance director.
They fraudulently told the county that the nonprofit’s bank account information had changed and that payments should be sent to an account with a different bank that Nyangoro had recently opened.
From Sep. 24, 2020, to Oct. 13, 2020, Fresno County initiated several transfers totaling more than $1.5 million to Nyangoro’s bank account instead of the nonprofit’s bank account.
But Regions Bank reversed some of the transfers for suspected fraud. On Oct. 16, 2020, Nyangoro sent a WhatsApp message to others saying, ‘We’re in deep s___. The last 3 transactions from County of Fresno have been reversed. Please call me ASAP!”
What we’re watching: Nyangoro will be sentenced on Sep. 21 by U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston.
He faces 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, as well as restitution.