Hilman Hambali

Originally submitted in Semester 2 2019 for the subject of Media, Law and Ethics.

International student Chukwuka Ibegbu, 33, has been imprisoned for his role in an elaborate computer hacking scam that gained him almost half a million dollars.

Ibegbu was sentenced today at the County Court to three years and seven months in prison with a non-parole period of two years and three months after pleading guilty to 15 charges of obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

The scam consisted of gaining access to computers and emails of various businesses and sending real invoices to clients but with altered bank account details.                                                                                  

Many businesses across Australia were affected by the scam including Simonds Homes.

Ibegbu gained $463,786 during his time in the scam.

Ibegbu also pleaded guilty to two charges of attempting to obtain a financial advantage by deception.

This was because the banks had stopped the transactions before they arrived in the fraudster’s bank accounts.

Ibegbu was arrested in October 2017 at his Mill Park home after authorities found and reported irregular banking activity.

His role was to create multiple bank accounts and quickly withdraw the money once the transfer was made by the clients.

He was caught on CCTV at different times withdrawing money at banks near his home and at a Travelex ATM in Melbourne Airport with an unknown man.

Judge Gavan Meredith said he was unlikely to be working alone and “not the architect” in the scam.

Even though he was not the mastermind of the scam, Ibegbu was shown to be intelligent, Judge Meredith said.

Ibegbu had gained an arts degree with a philosophy major and taught underprivileged children in Nigeria before arriving in Melbourne where he persisted with a nursing degree before being arrested.

Ibegbu arrived in Australia from Nigeria in December 2015 on a student visa.

He started studying a Master of Information Technology at Deakin University before switching and almost completing a Bachelor of Nursing at RMIT University.

Ibegbu was only five units shy of completing his degree at RMIT.

After arriving in Australia, he became addicted to gambling at Crown Casino and used money from the scam to fund his addiction.

This included betting on horse racing, playing roulette and buying lottery tickets.

The court heard that Ibegbu had developed post-traumatic stress disorder from growing up with his alcoholic father and domestic violence that occurred in his family home in Lagos.

Judge Meredith also took into account Ibegbu’s isolation disorder, depression and anxiety when sentencing the scammer. 

In his time in custody he had sought rehabilitation for his gambling disorder but not taken any medication for his other mental health issues.

Judge Meredith was also uncertain of Ibegbu’s deportation out of Australia after his sentence but that he had planned to stay in the country.

Ibegbu has already spent 681 days in custody.

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