Two wire transfers, two weeks apart in the summer of 2021, and $158,000 was gone. The money belonged to an agricultural company that believed it was paying an Oregon supplier for strawberry seeds. It was not.
Now Ogechi Urenna Udunka, 44, of Decatur, has been sentenced for her part in the scheme, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office said. She pleaded guilty in Gwinnett County Superior Court to two counts of theft by taking and two counts of money laundering. A judge sentenced her under the First Offender Act to 10 years: the first 90 days in prison, the rest on probation.
How the scam worked
Shortly after the seed deal was made, the company got a payment request from an email address that looked almost identical to the Oregon firm’s. It was fraudulent. The company sent money on June 15, 2021, and again on June 30.
Authorities say Udunka received the $158,000 from those two transfers. She is accused of then moving it through multiple financial transactions meant to hide its origin, sending funds to herself and to others involved in the scheme.
Prosecutors describe this as business email compromise: a criminal sends a message that seems to come from a legitimate business source, then uses it to pull in payments while delivering nothing.
What Carr said
“Our White Collar and Cyber Crime Unit is leading the fight against cyber-enabled fraud, protecting businesses and consumers,” Carr said. “This is a growing threat, and it’s why we have continued to pursue those who are moving stolen funds so we can stop a scam in its tracks.”
He added that education matters, and urged Georgians to learn how to spot and report online fraud to protect their data, network and devices. Officials say anyone who thinks they have been targeted should report it to their financial provider, local law enforcement and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, known as IC3.
