FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — A Tennessee man has pleaded guilty in a scheme that sent more than $1.5 million in Fresno County payments to a bank account he opened after conspirators took over a nonprofit finance director’s email, federal prosecutors said.
53-year-old Jafaar September Nyangoro of Franklin, Tennessee, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to a scheme to defraud Fresno County, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.
According to court documents, Nyangoro, 46-year-old co-defendant Peter Bah Acha of Berlin, Germany, and others secretly gained control of an email account used by the finance director of a Fresno nonprofit in September 2020.
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Posing as the finance director, they submitted fraudulent invoices to Fresno County for payment through Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions.
They told Fresno County the nonprofit’s bank account information had changed and directed payments to an account at a different bank that Nyangoro had recently opened, according to court documents.
Believing they were communicating with the legitimate nonprofit, county employees updated the nonprofit’s bank account information.
Between Sept. 24, 2020, and Oct. 13, 2020, Fresno County initiated several ACH transfers totaling more than $1.5 million to Nyangoro’s bank account instead of the nonprofit’s bank account, according to court documents.
Court documents say Nyangoro, Acha, and others communicated with each other through various means, including WhatsApp.
On Oct. 16, 2020, after Regions Bank reversed some of the ACH transfers for suspected fraud.
Nyangoro sent a WhatsApp message: “We’re in deep s***. The last 3 transactions from County of Fresno have been reversed. Please call me ASAP!”
Nyangoro is scheduled to be sentenced on September 21st, when he faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and restitution.