Fraudulent tax refund grab involving identity theft nets Nigerian man 34 years in prison

While in Paris, Arasokun devised a scheme to unlawfully obtain tax refund money by filing fraudulent federal income tax returns.

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Ayodele Arasokun was sentenced today in West Virginia to 34 years in federal prison for orchestrating an international tax scheme.

According to the court documents, from January 2016 to November 2017, Arasokun devised a scheme to unlawfully obtain tax refund money by filing fraudulent federal income tax returns. Arasokun collected the names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers (SSNs) of multiple individuals across the United States. Using this information, Arasokun compromised the IRS Electronic Filing Pin application, an online electronic portal.

The government didn’t allege that he pushed the button for all of the returns to file them, but it doesn’t have to show that to prove a conspiracy, which was one of the 21 counts.

Arasokun then electronically filed and attempted to file fraudulent federal income tax returns. The returns contained fictitious income amounts, withholdings, and other false information. He then directed tax refunds to be deposited into prepaid debit cards and bank accounts that he monitored.

Investigators discovered that Arasokun was tracking approximately 700 U.S.-based accounts containing over $50 million. Of the $9.1 million claimed by Arasokun in false federal income tax returns, the IRS ultimately paid out $2.2 million in fraudulently obtained refunds.

Arasokun is originally from Nigeria. However, he was arrested and detained in France, where he allegedly participated in the crime at the request of the U.S. government. To ensure that he showed up to face the charges, the government requested a “Red Notice” from INTERPOL, basically an international arrest warrant.