Girma Tilahun, Wife Sentenced in Marriage Fraud Scam

BOSTON — Girma Tilahun, 61, a dispatcher for Boston Cab, and his wife, Wudnesh Wolde, 54, both of Cambridge, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court for their role in a calculated marriage fraud scheme designed to smuggle a relative into the United States under false pretenses. The couple admitted to orchestrating a sham marriage between a U.S. citizen and an Ethiopian national — a 1977-born relative of Tilahun’s — so the man could fraudulently obtain permanent residency.

U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper slapped the pair with two years of probation and 100 hours of community service. But the punishment didn’t stop there. Tilahun and Wolde were ordered to pay $234,987 in unpaid federal income taxes, interest, and penalties, and an additional $62,340 to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Section 8 housing subsidies they knowingly defrauded. Both pleaded guilty in August 2016 to one count of aiding and abetting marriage fraud.

The scam began in 2011 when Tilahun, an Ethiopian national and permanent resident since 1999, recruited a former neighbor — a U.S. citizen — to marry his relative in Ethiopia. Wolde was fully aware of the plan and helped convince the citizen to go through with the $25,000 payoff. The wedding took place in April 2011, and based on fraudulent documents submitted to U.S. immigration authorities, the relative was admitted into the country in April 2012 — not to live with his so-called wife, but to move in with Tilahun and Wolde.

While running this immigration ruse, Tilahun was lining his pockets at Boston Cab. For roughly 15 years, he worked as a dispatcher for EJT Management, Inc., the company behind Boston Cab, the city’s largest medallion taxi operator. Tilahun accepted off-the-books cash payments — “tips” — from drivers desperate for immediate cab leases. He never reported these payments, nor did he declare the bulk of his own wages paid in cash, leading to a total tax loss of $234,987.

Meanwhile, the couple lived in federally subsidized housing in Cambridge. Between 2009 and 2013, they lied about their income to qualify for HUD Section 8 benefits, falsely claiming Tilahun’s income was limited to his on-the-books earnings. The fraud netted them $62,340 in housing aid they were never entitled to. As part of their plea agreement, they’re now on the hook to repay both the IRS and HUD in full.

This case follows the December 13, 2016 sentencing of Edward Tutunjian, owner of EJT Management, Inc., who was hit with 20 months of probation — 18 months in a halfway house — after pleading guilty to tax evasion, employing illegal aliens, and violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. Tutunjian and his company paid over $2.3 million in restitution and a fine of up to $28,999. The Boston Cab empire, once a symbol of the city’s gritty transit network, is now a cautionary tale of systemic corruption from the garage floor to the executive office.