Onomen Uduebor, a Nigerian national, has been sentenced to 40 months in a United States federal prison for his involvement in a large-scale tax fraud scheme.

Uduebor, also known as Onomen Onohi, acknowledged that his criminal actions were driven by a desperate attempt to succeed in the music industry.

According to a statement released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice, Uduebor, 39, was arrested in the United Kingdom in September 2023 and extradited to the U.S. in March 2025.

He pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

In court, Uduebor expressed remorse, stating, “I have read the victim impact statements, and I know an apology is not enough…. I was desperate to succeed in my music career. It is not an excuse, but it is the truth.”

The indictment revealed that between February 2016 and April 2017, Uduebor and co-conspirators used fraudulent emails impersonating company executives to deceive human resources departments into releasing employees’ W-2 tax documents.

The group then used the stolen information to file more than 300 false tax returns, seeking over $1 million in refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Uduebor personally filed 150 of these fraudulent returns and monitored the flow of funds into bank accounts opened under the victims’ names. While most of the false claims were blocked by the IRS, approximately $140,000 was paid out. Uduebor admitted to receiving $10,000 from the scheme and was ordered to forfeit that amount and pay $122,720 in restitution to the U.S. Treasury.

The Department of Justice statement noted, “While the IRS paid out about $140,000 to the fraudsters, Uduebor says he received only $10,000 from the scheme. The IRS was able to seize some of the money back from the conspirators, so the total restitution owed to the U.S. Treasury was $122,720.”

At sentencing, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart described Uduebor’s role as significant, stating, “He freely participated in the fraud and had a substantial role in the scheme. Thirty years old is not a young man, and he ought to have known better.”

Following his prison term, Uduebor is expected to be deported to Nigeria.