A United States court has sentenced a Nigerian national, Kingsley Utulu, to five years and three months in prison for his involvement in a large-scale identity theft and cyber fraud scheme that defrauded U.S. tax authorities and citizens of more than $2.5 million.

The sentence was announced over the weekend by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and FBI New York Assistant Director, Christopher Raia.

Utulu, 38, was convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors said he participated in a sophisticated operation that involved hacking into U.S.-based tax preparation businesses, stealing personal identifying information, and using it to file fraudulent tax returns and claim refunds from the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies.

“Kingsley Uchelue Utulu took part in a scheme to hack into U.S. tax preparation businesses, trade in the stolen personal identifying information, and defraud the IRS and other governmental bodies,” said Clayton.

Commenting on the case, Raia noted that cybercriminals operating from abroad would not be allowed to evade justice: “Offshore scammers like Utulu and his co-conspirators may think they can target hard-working Americans with their hacking and fraud schemes and avoid prosecution. The FBI will never exempt any individual who seeks to unlawfully profit through deceitful practices, regardless of where they are located.”

Utulu was initially arrested in the United Kingdom and later extradited to the U.S. to stand trial. In addition to his prison term, the court ordered him to pay $3,683,029.39 in restitution and forfeit $290,250 in criminal proceeds.

His conviction follows closely on the heels of another high-profile cybercrime case involving two other Nigerian nationals, Abel Daramola and Olutayo Ogunlaja, who were recently convicted in the U.S. for their roles in a $560,000 international romance scam. The duo now faces up to 20 years in federal prison.