A Georgia man was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for defrauding the University of Illinois.
In a news release, officials said U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce sentenced 35-year-old Eric Marcel Mboule for his role in the scheme. He and other people had defrauded the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign out of more than $265,000, officials said.
“In 2016, Mboule along with Patrick Guentangue and others executed a fraudulent scheme to deceive University of Illinois officials into believing that a building contractor working at the U of I had changed banking information in advance of the contractor receiving the next scheduled payment,” said officials. The University then wired the payment into an account owned by Guentangue, who used an alias, instead of the contractor’s account.
“Mboule then sent messages to Guentangue directing him exactly how he should then disburse the fraudulently obtained funds to others involved in the fraud,” officials said.
Guentangue was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of parole for his role in the scheme. Mboule pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In addition to his prison sentence, he will have three years of parole and must pay restitution to the University in the amount of $265,193.75