Desperation for music success led me to tax fraud – Nigerian tells US court
Story by Zara Ahmed
A Nigerian musician, Onomen Uduebor, also known as Onomen Onohi, has been sentenced to three years and four months in a U.S. federal prison for his involvement in a $140,000 tax refund fraud scheme. Uduebor, 39, told the court he was driven by desperation to succeed in his music career.
The sentencing, which took place in Seattle, followed Uduebor’s guilty plea to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was arrested in the United Kingdom in September 2023 and extradited to the United States in March 2025. He entered his guilty plea the following month.
According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, Uduebor played a key role in a conspiracy that involved stealing employee tax data and filing more than 300 false tax returns across the United States.
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The scheme, which ran from February 2016 to April 2017, targeted companies by impersonating executives in emails sent to their human resources departments. If employees resisted handing over W-2 data, the fraudsters would reply aggressively, posing as the company CEO.
Uduebor admitted to filing at least 150 of the fake returns himself and helping manage the refunds through bank accounts set up in the names of identity theft victims. Although the Internal Revenue Service blocked most of the fraudulent claims, approximately \$140,000 was paid out, of which Uduebor claimed to have received $10,000.
The court ordered him to forfeit that amount and pay $122,720 in restitution to the IRS. Authorities said some of the stolen funds were recovered, but the fraud caused lasting damage to individuals and companies. Victims faced delayed refunds, tax complications, and ongoing fears of identity theft.
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During the sentencing, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart noted Uduebor’s significant involvement in the scheme. “He freely participated in the fraud. Thirty years old is not a young man and he ought to have known better,” the judge said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Miriam Hinman emphasized the broader impact of the crime, writing that it caused emotional and financial stress for taxpayers and disrupted their ability to file legitimate returns.
In court, Uduebor expressed remorse. “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.”
Following the completion of his prison sentence, Uduebor is expected to be deported to Nigeria.
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