A man convicted this week of creating fake student accounts to defraud the University of Connecticut of tens of thousands of dollars had used the same tactics to target other schools, federal documents show.
Dickson Alorwornu, also known as “Dixon Al,” 35, a citizen of Ghana who lives in Greenwich, was convicted by a jury Tuesday of two counts of wire fraud after a trial that started last week. He could face up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 19, federal officials said.
According to federal documents, investigators were able to connect him with the crime through emails and an IP address that also was used in fraud schemes targeting Central Connecticut State University, Missouri State University and the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
Federal prosecutors said Alorwornu purchased stolen credit card numbers and created email accounts to enroll two people whose identities he stole for non-degree classes at UConn in December 2017. He paid for the classes with the credit card numbers stolen from three people, then withdrew the students from classes by February 2018, seeking tens of thousands of dollars in refunds — which the university provided, court documents said.
The reimbursement for one fake student account was $33,000 and the other was $29,000, federal documents show.
But school officials became suspicious and reported the activity, which led to an investigation that pointed to Alorwornu as the suspect, federal authorities said.
The same IP address that was used to send the emails for the students to sign up for classes was used when Alorwornu paid his credit card bills and other personal transactions, federal documents said.
While researching the emails Alorwornu created that were associated with the IP address, it was discovered he had used the same scheme to defraud at least three other universities, documents said. He enrolled people whose identities he stole and made payments to other universities, federal officials said in the documents. It was unclear whether those cases would be prosecuted.
Investigators were able to identify Alorwornu as the suspect by comparing information from his 2018 citizenship application to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, his Apple and PayPal accounts, the email addresses he created and the bank accounts where he deposited the refund from UConn, federal documents said.
UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said Thursday the university has added new verification measures in addition to ones that had already been in place to review and vet students applying for non-degree classes. Among the new measures is the requirement to upload a valid, unexpired government-issued photo identification document, such as a driver’s license, passport or military ID.
Reitz said the application process to take non-degree classes differs from the application process to pursue an undergraduate degree.
UConn referred questions about the investigation to the U.S. Attorney’s office, which declined to comment.
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