Tech worker from Kenya gets 23 months for helping global scam ring

A Kenyan man who helped run a worldwide scam network got 23 months in prison last week. The 36-year-old moved money between accounts for fraudsters who pretended to be real companies. He started work with the group in 2022 and kept helping even after he knew what they were doing. The scam worked in a simple but effective way. Fake emails looked like they came from trusted partners. Victims in four states—Connecticut, Colorado, Alaska, and New York—sent over $12 million to accounts they thought were safe. Some of the money came from people who had fallen for romance scams first, not realizing they were moving stolen cash. Others thought they were paying real business bills.Court papers show the leader of the group, a Nigerian man, gave the Kenyan worker fake invoices and fake contracts. The worker changed these documents and sent them to victims. Once the money arrived, it was quickly moved again to other accounts or turned into cash. The worker knew the whole plan was illegal, yet he still took part for years. He got caught in Malaysia in 2022 and was sent to the United States three years later. After pleading guilty to wire fraud in October 2025, he was sentenced to 23 months behind bars. He will be sent back to Kenya once his time is done. Two other men from the same group got even longer sentences: 96 months and 24 months.