Lansing man convicted in international identity theft and tax fraud scheme
Ken PalmerGRAND RAPIDS - A Lansing man has been convicted on 18 counts for his role in what officials called an "international identity theft and tax refund fraud scheme."
Oghenevwakpo Igboba accessed tax information for more than 100 people from Internal Revenue Service systems, then directed hundreds of thousands of dollars to himself by filing returns before the real taxpayers did, the U.S. District Attorney's Office said in a news release.
Many of the stolen returns were blocked by IRS systems, but Igboba received at least $57,000 through the scheme, officials said.
“Even one unauthorized access to confidential tax information is a violation of federal law, and, in this case, the defendant stole hundreds of tax transcripts from the IRS in furtherance of a scheme to enrich himself at the expense of the American people,” J. Russell George, treasury inspector general for tax administration, said in the news release.
A jury on Monday found Igboba guilty on one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S.,one count of wire fraud, eight counts of making a false claim to the United States and eight counts of aggravated identity theft.
More:Tax and IRS-related scams
More:'I snapped:' Man pleads guilty to Lansing homeless encampment killing
Wire fraud, the most serious charge, is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
An attorney for Igboba could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. Sentencing is set for Jan. 29.
The evidence showed Igboba conspired with numerous individuals in the U.S. and abroad to mine personal information and direct refunds from fraudulent tax returns to various bank accounts, officials said.
Beyond the direct impact to people whose identities were stolen, the scheme undermines public trust in the tax system, U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge said.
The case was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the IRS criminal investigation division.
Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.