A man from Britain and Nigeria admitted in a US court that he stole over $6 million in seven years.
Idris Dayo Mustapha, who is 33 years old, was involved in a group of hackers who broke into email and brokerage accounts of US companies from 2011 to 2018. They caused $6 million in losses.
Mustapha is a citizen of both the UK and Nigeria. He was sent back to Nigeria from the UK in August, two years after he was arrested.
He could go to jail for up to 20 years for his crimes.
He has not yet been told what his punishment will be.
Mustapha admitted in court in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday that he is guilty of four charges: hacking into computers, committing fraud with securities, using wires for fraud, and using unauthorized access devices.
Officials say Mustapha and his group broke into the computers of banks in the US to get secret user information.
Then they used the stolen information and passwords to move money and transfer investments from the victims’ accounts to their own accounts.
They also used the hacked accounts to do stock trades without the account holder knowing.
The US government had been trying to catch Mustapha for many years.