Seven people, six of them from Texas, were charged on March 7 in an alleged multimillion-dollar identity theft scheme against the IRS.

According to a press release on the DOJ website, a federal grand jury in Austin has accused seven people of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud:

• Abraham Yusuff, Round Rock

• Meghan Inyang, San Antonio

• Christopher Eduardo, Round Rock

• Christian Mathurin, Nashville, Tennessee

• Dillon Anozie, San Antonio

• Babajide Ogunbanjo, Austin

• Aydin Mammadov, Houston

 
During 2018-21, these individuals allegedly “engaged in a conspiracy to claim fraudulent tax refunds by stealing the identities of accountants and taxpayers,” according to the DOJ.

The seven are accused of filing at least 371 false tax returns and claiming more than $111 million in IRS refunds, according to the press release.

Yusuff allegedly recruited everyone but Inyang to provide addresses for the scheme.

The DOJ said the group filed IRS paperwork as authorized agents on behalf of multiple taxpayers using stolen information about them and their actual tax preparers.

The conspirators then allegedly requested that the IRS change the taxpayers’ addresses on file and asked to have their tax information sent to those addresses, which the conspirators controlled. They then used this information to electronically file tax returns claiming refunds and directed the IRS to divide them among prepaid debit cards.

The indictment also charges that Yusuff, Inyang, Eduardo, Anozie, Ogunbanjo, and Mammadov received the prepaid debit cards. The DOJ claims they bought money orders in small amounts to avoid reporting thresholds.

The DOJ said the funds were used to purchase luxury items such as designer clothes, home renovation supplies, and used cars.

The individuals were charged with mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering, and access device fraud.

If convicted, they each face a maximum of 20 years in prison for mail and wire fraud and conspiracy, 20 years for money laundering, 10 years for access device fraud, and a mandatory sentence of two years for aggravated identity theft.

According to the DOJ, each defendant might also be forced to complete supervised release and could encounter monetary penalties, restitution, and forfeiture.

Crimes categorized as “false pretenses/swindle/confidence” have been rising dramatically in Dallas in recent years. Incidents reported in the category rose over 21% from 2020 to 2021 and another 4% from 2021 to 2022, according to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard. With 308 incidents logged so far this year, such crimes are on track with 2022 and likely to surpass historic levels once again.