A Kenyan-born man has pleaded guilty to swindling two United States universities out of more than $800,000 in a computer phishing scheme.
Amis Hassan Raage pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Thursday before a southern California court.
The charge carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Raage will be sentenced by Judge Gonzalo Curiel in the San Diego court on October 11th, 2019.
The 48-year-old pleaded guilty to receiving over $870,000 in payments from officials from the University of California, San Diego and a second unspecified college in the state of Pennsylvania.
"Modern criminals like Raage have ditched the ski mask and getaway vehicle and opted for a computer as their weapon of choice," US Attorney Robert Brewer said in announcing the guilty plea.
"Modern criminals like Raage have ditched the ski mask and getaway vehicle and opted for a computer as their weapon of choice," US Attorney Robert Brewer said in announcing the guilty plea.
"As this defendant has learned, we are matching wits with new-age thieves and successfully tracking them down and putting an end to their high-tech deception."
Raage is said to have conspired with other suspects back in Kenya to contact officials at the two colleges claiming to be Dell service representatives.
They then told the college officials to redirect their Dell payments to an account in Minnesota that was controlled by Raage.
Raage and his crew managed to illegally obtain $749,158.37 from the University of California and $123,643.77 from the Pennsylvanian college.
Raage fled to Kenya in September last year after his US banks accounts were frozen. In May this year, Kenyan police arrested him and extradited him back to the US to face fraud charges.
It remains unknown whether Raage's Kenyan accomplices will be extradited to the US for trial.
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ili iwe funzo kwa wengine..Raage funy name iyo masomo ungefungua a geniun company and receive tender to supply or host private entity. With their data.
We are in a global village. You can run but can't hide. Thieves always get caught; stupidity and greed will kill dishonest Kenyans.
Why do that here? Why think of that here? Why use stupid strategy to divert traceable funds? What were you thinking in the first place? What prompted you to even think that? Why practice and implement Kenyan runaway thievery in a country where all sytems works, Boy? Where did you the guts from boy? Now at 48, you will be possibly be 68 when they let you go, if you come alive. Its not about doing time, but the myriad of successive, well-organized, criminal gangs that will welcome you in prison, all salivating to get a piece of you. Hope you buried your loot somewhere so that it cushion you once you get out.
Eti: Why use STUPID strategy to divert traceable funds? You give us the CLEVER strategy to divert traceable funds.
@tusker, mr Raage used his "stupid strategy.....funds." Stop asking mjuaji how which other strategies you can use. You are just another Kenyan potential thief mchoraji who have strategizing on how to be in headlines again. If you have to do it, fanyia kwenu Kenya. Hapa you will be someone's wife.