A Nigerian man named Abdul Olatunji Samson has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. He was found guilty of a major online fraud that tricked an American homebuyer into sending over R3.2 million (more than $200,000) to the wrong bank account.

Samson, who owns a popular nightclub, received two 10-year jail sentences for theft and money laundering. These sentences will run at the same time.

The fraud happened when Samson and his team hacked into emails between the American victim and their property lawyer. They changed the lawyer’s real banking details to fake ones connected to a Bank of America account. The victim, not knowing this, sent the money to the wrong account.

Investigators discovered that Samson got about R1.9 million from the stolen money. At the time of his arrest, he was already serving a 12-year sentence for another fraud case. This earlier conviction made things worse for him in court, showing he had a history of scams.

The investigation involved the FBI, the US Secret Service, South Africa’s Hawks, and expert detectives like Colonel Oscar Mopedi. They followed the money trail through many bank accounts in South Africa before finding the link to Samson.

Senior prosecutor Ronel Dookun told the court that cyber fraud is hard to stop and needs cooperation between countries and skilled investigators. She said harsh sentences are needed because these crimes hurt innocent people and are done just for greed.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the long sentence sends a strong message that cybercrime and international fraud will not be tolerated in South Africa. They also noted that these cases often take many years to finish because of how complex they are and how long trials can last.