Federal jury convicts Alexandria man on charges relating to the deletion of U.S. Government databases

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A federal jury convicted Sohaib Akhter, 34, of Alexandria, today on charges of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, password trafficking, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Sohaib Akhter, and his twin brother and co-defendant, Muneeb Akhter, worked for a Washington, D.C., company that provided software products and services to more than 45 federal government agencies and hosted data for some federal government clients on servers in Ashburn. On Feb. 1, 2025, Muneeb Akhter asked Sohaib Akhter for the plaintext password of an individual who submitted a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) Public Portal, which was maintained by the Akhters' employer. Sohaib Akhter conducted a database query on the EEOC database and then provided the password to Muneeb Akhter. That password was subsequently used to access that individual's email account without authorization.

When the company discovered Sohaib Akhter's felony conviction, it terminated both brothers' employment during an online remote meeting on Feb. 18, 2025. Immediately after being fired during this meeting, the brothers sought to harm their employer and its U.S. government customers by accessing computers without authorization, write-protecting databases, deleting databases, and destroying evidence of their unlawful activities. The compromised information included case management and Freedom of Information Act response processing software. Over the course of several hours, approximately 96 databases storing U.S. government information hosted by the company were deleted.

A search of Sohaib's cellphone revealed that he had obtained firearms as early as January 2025 and, following the execution of a search warrant on March 12, 2025, took steps to sell them. On March 18, 2025, Sohaib drove to a firearm company in Farnham, Virginia, with his domestic partner, who completed paperwork for a transaction to sell the company seven firearms. As a convicted felon, Sohaib could not legally possess firearms.

On June 6, 2015, Muneeb and Sohaib pled guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to access a protected computer without authorization, and conspiracy to access a government computer without authorization. Muneeb also pled guilty to accessing a protected computer without authorization, making a false statement, and obstructing justice. On Oct. 2, 2015, Muneeb was sentenced to three years and three months in prison; Sohaib was sentenced to two years in prison.

Sohaib Akhter is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 9 and faces a maximum penalty of 21 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FDIC-OIG, DHS-OIG, and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Valuable assistance was provided by: the Department of Agriculture OIG; Department of Education OIG; Environmental Protection Agency OIG; Equal Employment Opportunity Commission OIG; Federal Reserve Board OIG; Department of Health and Human Services OIG; DHS Office of the Chief Security Officer; Department of Housing and Urban Development OIG; Department of the Interior OIG; International Development Finance Corporation OIG; Department of Justice OIG; Department of Labor OIG; Nuclear Regulatory Commission OIG; Small Business Administration OIG; Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration; Department of Veterans Affairs OIG; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; United States Capitol Police; Fairfax County, Virginia Police Department; and the Alexandria, Virginia Sheriff's Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Strobbe for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorneys George Brown and Stefanie Schwartz of the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) are prosecuting the case.

CCIPS investigates and prosecutes cybercrime and intellectual property (IP) crime in coordination with domestic and international law enforcement agencies, often with assistance from the private sector. Since 2020, CCIPS has secured the conviction of over 180 cyber and IP criminals, and court orders for the return of over $350 million in victim funds.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District CourtLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 1:25-cr-307.