A 34-year-old Virginia man identified as Sohaib Akhter was convicted on Thursday on the charges related to computer fraud conspiracy, password trafficking, and illegal possession of a firearm. Reportedly, while working at an IT company, he and his twin brother Muneeb Akhter illegally accessed government-related computer systems. The brothers allegedly deleted 96 databases after being fired. Akhter had committed a similar crime nearly 11 years back, while he was convicted of the same in 2015.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, the court documents and evidence presented during the proceedings reveal that Sohaib and his brother worked for a tech company in Washington, D.C. It supplied software tools and solutions to over 45 federal government offices and stored information for several federal government clients on servers based in Ashburn.
Office of Public Affairs | Federal Jury Convicts Virgina Man on Charges Relating to the Deletion of U.S. Government Databases | United States Department of Justice https://t.co/wSmEZ094Zr
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On Feb. 1, 2025, Muneeb asked Sohaib for a plaintext password. The password belonged to a person who had filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Public Portal, which was hosted by the Akhters’ employer. After a database query, Sohaib gave Muneeb the password, which was used to access the individual’s email account without permission.
When the company learned of Sohaib’s felony conviction, it fired both brothers during an online meeting on Feb. 18, 2025. Following their termination, both brothers decided to harm their organization and its U.S. government customers. They illegally accessed company systems, locked important databases, deleted records, and tried to destroy evidence of their actions.
The tampered data included case management and software for processing Freedom of Information Act responses. The release states that the brothers deleted nearly 96 databases over several hours.
Notably, Sohaib’s cellphone review reveals that he had acquired firearms in January 2025 and later attempted to sell them after the authorities issued a search warrant against him on March 12, 2025. He even traveled to a firearm firm in Farnham, Virginia, on March 18, 2025, with his partner, who handled the paperwork to sell seven guns to the company. Since Sohaib was a convicted felon, he couldn’t possess firearms.
For context, back on June 6, 2015, Sohaib and Muneeb pleaded guilty to a similar crime in the Eastern District of Virginia. At the time, the duo admitted to committing wire fraud and conspiring to retrieve a protected computer and a government computer without permission.
Apart from this, the 34-year-old also pleaded guilty to making a false statement and hindering justice. Later, on Oct. 2, 2015, while Muneeb received a prison sentence of three years and three months, Sohaib was sentenced to two years imprisonment.
The judgment on Sohaib will be announced on Sept. 9 and could result in up to 21 years behind bars. A federal judge will decide the final punishment after reviewing sentencing guidelines and other legal considerations.
Meanwhile, Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said, “Sohaib Akhter harmed Americans who trusted their government with personal information and sensitive requests. His conviction shows that getting fired from a job is not an invitation to retaliate.”
