DISGRACEFUL:
NIGERIAN MAN, EMMANUEL OLUWATOSIN KAZEEM, SIX Others Steal over 125,000 American Taxpayers Identities…Convicted in Oregon Federal Court on 19 counts of Mail, Wire Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft and Conspiracy to commit Mail Fraud
*Buys over 91,000 of American identities from a Vietnamese hacker who got into a database belonging to an Oregon company called CICS Employment Services
* ‘Over 2,800 fraudulent returns were linked to Kazeem with attempted refunds in excess of $26 million and actual losses to the federal government of nearly $7 million’-IRS
* Passed many American identities to his co-conspirators located in the Atlanta, Georgia and Nigeria
* ‘This Nigerian taught them (his group) how to create fictitious W-2 wage documents, acquire and register prepaid debit cards in the taxpayers’ names to receive refunds’-United States Prosecutors
*PLUS how IRS criminal investigators traced more than 2,000 wire transfers involving $2.1 million dollars in fraudulent tax refunds wired to Nigeria by Kazeem and his co-conspirators
BY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU/FOREIGN BUREAU CHIEF, UNITED STATES
EMMANUEL OLUWATOSIN KAZEEM, a-34 year old Nigerian in Bowie, Maryland, United States has been found to have stolen over 125,000 identities of unsuspecting Americans, after he bought over 91,000 of innocent American identities from a criminally-minded Vietnamese hacker who unlawfully discreetly got into a database belonging to an Oregon company called CICS Employment Services.
Emmanuel, ring leader of a fraud group and six other Nigerians are now convicted in an elaborate tax fraud scheme by a jury in Medford in a federal court in Oregon on 19 counts of mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to after been found to have committed mail and wire fraud.
Latest report confirms that Emmanuel is accused of obtaining more than 125,000 stolen taxpayer identities from across the United States, and has been convicted in federal court in Oregon on 19 counts of mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
A jury in Medford returned the verdicts Friday against Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, who lived most recently in Bowie, Maryland.
Prosecutors say this Nigerian bought over 91,000 of the identities from a Vietnamese hacker who got into a database belonging to an Oregon company called CICS Employment Services. Most of the personal information belonged to people living in Oregon and Washington and were used to file fraudulent tax returns between 2012 and 2015.
Over 2,800 fraudulent returns were linked to Kazeem with attempted refunds in excess of $26 million and actual losses to the federal government of nearly $7 million. IRS criminal investigators traced more than 2,000 wire transfers involving $2.1 million dollars in fraudulent tax refunds wired to Nigeria by Kazeem and his co-conspirators, prosecutors said.
Our reporter gathered Emmanuel passed many of the identities to his co-conspirators located in the Atlanta, Georgia, area and Nigeria. He instructed them how to use the stolen personal information to get electronic filing PINs from the Internal Revenue Service in the taxpayers’ names to file tax returns. He taught them how to create fictitious W-2 wage documents and acquire and register prepaid debit cards in the taxpayers’ names to receive refunds, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors submitted evidence that Emmanuel had invested more than $190,000 in cash into the recent purchase of a newly constructed home in Maryland, used $175,000 in cash to buy a townhouse in Maryland shortly before his arrest and was in recent negotiations to build a hotel in Lagos, Nigeria.
The verdict came at the end of a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge Ann L. Aiken, even as Emmanuel is scheduled to be sentenced on Medford on Nov. 8. Meanwhile, his son, Michael has pleaded guilty to an indictment and awaits sentencing.
Full investigations were carried out by the IRS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI and Office of Inspector General were involved in the case.
#Additional Reports by The Oregonian