Tennessee Man Sentenced to Nearly Four Years in Prison After Hijacked Nonprofit Email Diverts $1,500,000+ From California County

A Tennessee man has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for helping divert more than $1.5 million in payments from a California county.

Jafaar September Nyangoro, 53, of Franklin, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, reports Hoodline.

He and others secretly took over the email account of the finance director at Turning Point of Central California, a Fresno nonprofit.

Posing as the director, they told Fresno County that the nonprofit’s bank details had changed and that payments should go to an account Nyangoro had recently opened at a different bank.

Between September 24th and October 13th, 2020, the county sent several electronic transfers totaling more than $1.5 million to that account.

Regions Bank reversed some of the transfers over suspected fraud.

Nyangoro then messaged his co-conspirators on WhatsApp.

“We’re in deep s***. The last 3 transactions from County of Fresno have been reversed. Please call me ASAP!… There’s honor code among thieves. Let them tell us exactly what went wrong with these last 3 transactions.”

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston sentenced Nyangoro to three years and 10 months in prison and ordered him to pay $1.178 million in restitution.

Fresno County recovered about $112,000, and insurance covered roughly $875,000, according to a county spokesperson.

The FBI investigated the case.