A Nigerian musician, Onomen Uduebor, has been sentenced to three years and four months in a United States federal prison for his involvement in a $140,000 tax fraud conspiracy.
Uduebor, who also goes by the name Onomen Onohi, was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The 39-year-old was extradited from the United Kingdom to the U.S. in March 2025, following his arrest in September 2023. He pleaded guilty to the charges in April 2025.
According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, Uduebor was part of a criminal ring that tricked Human Resources departments of U.S. companies into disclosing employees’ W-2 tax information. The stolen data was then used to file over 300 fraudulent tax returns, seeking more than $1 million in refunds.
Court filings revealed that Uduebor was personally responsible for filing at least 150 of the fake returns and tracking the resulting payments, which were funneled into bank accounts created in the names of the identity theft victims. Although the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) managed to block most of the fraudulent refunds, approximately $140,000 was paid out—$10,000 of which Uduebor admitted to pocketing.
U.S. District Judge James L. Robart, who handed down the sentence in Seattle, said Uduebor played a “substantial role” in the fraud and “freely participated” despite knowing the consequences.
Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman described the scheme as causing considerable damage to companies, employees, and the IRS. She noted that victims faced both financial and emotional distress due to stolen identities and delayed tax returns.
In addition to the prison term, Uduebor was ordered to forfeit the $10,000 he earned from the scam and pay $122,720 in restitution to the IRS. He is expected to be deported to Nigeria upon completing his sentence.
