United Kingdom National Pleads Guilty to Hacking, Securities Fraud, and other Cybercrimes

Earlier today, Idris Dayo Mustapha, a national of Nigeria and the United Kingdom, pleaded guilty to charges of computer intrusion, securities fraud, wire fraud and access device fraud based on his involvement in a ring of hackers and fraudsters who broke into Americans’ email and brokerage accounts in order to defraud and steal over $6 million from their victims.  Mustapha was arrested in the United Kingdom in August 2021 and was extradited to the United States in August 2023.  Today’s proceeding was held before United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen.  When sentenced, the defendant faces up to 20 years in prison.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the guilty plea.

As set forth in the criminal information and court filings, between 2011 and 2018, Mustapha and his co-conspirators hacked into the computer servers of U.S. financial institutions, reviewed confidential user data, and placed malicious files on the servers.  Using the stolen data and stolen passwords that they acquired, they executed various schemes to defraud U.S. victims.  First, they accessed victims’ email accounts and, impersonating the victims, caused wire transfers of the victims’ funds for their own benefit.  Second, they used their access to the victims’ securities brokerage accounts to steal securities outright by having them transferred out of the accounts.  Third, Mustapha and his co-conspirators caused the victims’ brokerage accounts to execute unfavorable trades against accounts that Mustapha and his co-conspirators controlled, generating a profit for themselves at the victims’ expense.  Losses attributable to the scheme were in excess of $6 million.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s National Security and Cybercrime Section and the Business and Securities Fraud Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander Mindlin, Sarah M. Evans, and Sara K. Winik are in charge of the prosecution. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition from the UK of Mustapha.

The Defendant:

IDRIS DAYO MUSTAPHA
Age:  33
United Kingdom

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-440 (PKC)