NEWS $1m fraudster walks free
Hacking scheme targeted CDU, health provider
A SERIAL Sudanese fraudster who raked in almost $1 million via a sophisticated computer hacking scheme perpetrated by mystery masterminds has walked free from jail.
Alaeldin Ebrahim Kwkw received $969,825 rinsed from Charles Darwin University and Northern Territory notfor-profit health provider Anyinginyi Aboriginal Health, a court has heard.
Hackers gleaned both organisations were debtors to an Alice Springs construction company which had been infiltrated via the cyber attack.
The criminals emailed bogus invoices to both organisations with instructions to transfer money into an NAB account held by Kwkw.
CDU and Anyinginyi transferred $662,697 and $307,128 respectively on February 28 and March 1, 2019.
Kwkw transferred $380,000 to other accounts and then paid $61,270 for 1kg of gold bullion on March 1.
The fraudster also purchased a Hublot Big Bang Unico watch for $58,200 and ordered $US18,899 online.
Kwkw collected almost $US13,000 from a cash exchange outlet on March 4.
The construction company’s IT team uncovered the fraud and alerted Australian Federal Police on March 4.
Federal authorities arrested Kwkw on March 8.
Investigators seized his iPhone which contained text messages between Kwkw and a mystery mastermind known only as “Max Million”.
The texts revealed Kwkw had a co-offender “waiting nearby” while he got the gold and his “split of the proceeds” was “at least $150k”.
Police also uncovered encrypted WhatsApp texts between Kwkw and another mysterious operator known as “Nigirian Plug Million”.
Kwkw told police he had sent the watch proceeds, the gold and the cash to Sudan because his family had “always operated businesses” there.
The masterminds behind the hacking scam remain on the loose.
However, Kwkw arrived in
Australia with his family with “little more than the clothes on their backs”, the court heard.
The bank froze the CDU and Anyinginyi transactions on March 4 but the watch money, gold and US dollars remain missing.
Kwkw, 22, from Wollert, in Victoria, was sentenced at the County Court on February 14 to three-years’ jail after pleading guilty to dealing in proceeds of crime.
His counsel submitted the offending was of “limited duration” and “unsophisticated” because it was “inevitable” he would be caught.
References tendered on Kwkw’s behalf regarded the convicted criminal as a “young leader” who was respected in the community.
Kwkw, who was sentenced while on remand for an unrelated obtaining property by deception charge, had spent 18 months in custody at the time of sentencing.
Kwkw walked free as part of his three-year jail term was suspended for 18 months.
A CDU spokesperson said the university had worked with its insurance company and since recovered the funds.