Two males who allegedly posed as a neighborhood nonprofit to rip-off Fresno County out of $1.5 million in 2020 had been charged Thursday in a federal indictment.
Jafaar September Nyangoro, 52, of Franklin, Tenn., and Peter Bah Acha, 45, of Berlin had been charged with wire fraud and a conspiracy to commit wire fraud associated to a scheme to defraud Fresno County, in keeping with an announcement by the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace, Japanese District of California.
Court docket paperwork allege that the lads and different unnamed folks gained entry to an e mail account utilized by the director of a Fresno nonprofit in 2020. They used the e-mail deal with to submit fraudulent invoices to Fresno County and solicit funds to a checking account they managed, the assertion stated.
Over a number of weeks within the fall of 2020, the county despatched funds totaling greater than $1.5 million to Nyangoro’s checking account, in keeping with the Justice Division.
Three days after the ultimate fee, a financial institution concerned within the transactions reversed a number of transfers on account of suspected fraud, prosecutors allege. Realizing the scheme had been uncovered, Nyangoro despatched a WhatsApp message to a bunch together with Acha and others: “We’re in deep s—,” in keeping with prosecutors. “The final 3 transactions from County of Fresno have been reversed. Please name me ASAP!”
Nyangoro has been detained in Tennessee and is predicted to seem in Fresno to face prices.
If convicted, he and Acha would face a most penalty of 20 years in jail in addition to a fantastic of as much as $250,000 for every rely of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.
