US Court Sentences Nigerian to Prison for Permanent Fund Dividend Cyber Scheme

A United States federal court has sentenced a Nigerian citizen, Adepoju Salako, to 1.5 years (18 months) in prison following his conviction for executing an internet-based wire fraud scheme.

According to judicial records, Salako was found guilty of orchestrating a targeted cyber fraud operation in 2022 that specifically compromised and exploited the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) system, a state-managed program in Alaska that distributes annual oil wealth dividends to eligible residents.

Federal prosecutors detailed that Salako manipulated digital validation systems to intercept and divert funds intended for legitimate citizens. The illicit scheme relied on several unauthorized digital maneuvers:

• Identity Theft and Phishing: Acquiring the personally identifiable information (PII) of Alaskan residents through fraudulent online channels to bypass security verification.
• Systemic Compromise: Accessing state distribution portals to surreptitiously alter the routing and payout parameters of active dividend accounts.
• Illicit Fund Diversion: Re-routing the hijacked state dividend allocations away from the residents' personal accounts and channeling them directly into a network of unmonitored bank accounts controlled by the fraud ring.

In addition to his 18-month custodial prison sentence, the presiding U.S. District Judge ordered Salako to serve a period of supervised release upon completion of his jail term. The court also mandated strict financial restitution requirements, forcing the convict to pay back the full volume of stolen state funds intercepted during the 2022 cyber campaign.

United States law enforcement agencies reiterated that this conviction underscores a heightened, collaborative cross-border crackdown targeting international cybercriminals who exploit domestic social security, welfare, and state dividend infrastructure for personal gain.