Ware Nabbed in $810K Tax Refund Heist

BOSTON – A brazen scheme to pilfer an $810,337 tax refund check has landed a New York man in federal court. Steven Ware, 64, of Yonkers, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft, admitting he posed as a Connecticut corporate executive to carry out the elaborate con.

According to federal prosecutors, Ware opened bank accounts in December 2023 at a Tyngsborough, Massachusetts credit union, fraudulently using the name and personal information – including full name, date of birth, and Social Security number – of an executive at a Connecticut investment company. He didn’t just mimic the executive; he *became* him, at least on paper, to open the accounts.

The payoff came shortly after. Ware, still posing as the executive, deposited the massive United States Treasury check into the newly opened account. Once the check cleared, the floodgates opened. A debit card linked to the account was used to drain funds, with Ware purchasing goods across New York, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. But that wasn’t enough. He repeatedly returned to the Tyngsborough credit union, maintaining the charade, and wired over $634,000 of the stolen funds to unknown destinations.

Ware’s arrest in September 2024 followed an investigation by a multi-agency task force, including the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The Tyngsborough Police Department also provided crucial assistance. The federal grand jury indictment in October 2024 cemented the charges against him.

U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young has scheduled sentencing for October 8, 2025. Ware faces a steep penalty. The bank fraud charge carries a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine. Adding insult to injury, each aggravated identity theft charge mandates a minimum two-year prison sentence, to be served *consecutively* with any sentence for the bank fraud. He could also face an additional year of supervised release and a $250,000 fine per identity theft count.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kriss Basil of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit. United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, along with the heads of the investigating agencies – Ted E. Docks (FBI), Thomas Demeo (IRS), Ketty Larco-Ward (USPS), and Michael Carpenter (TIGTA) – announced the guilty plea, sending a clear message that financial crimes will be aggressively pursued in Massachusetts and beyond.