Alexander Pavlov, Stanislav Lukyantsev, Dmitrii Shenke, Anton Vikharev, Tax Fraud, Missouri 2021

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A federal indictment alleges that four men, including three Russian nationals and a U.S. citizen, participated in a conspiracy to defraud the United States by filing fraudulent federal income tax returns using stolen identities.

Alexander Pavlov, 37, Dmitrii Shenke, 35, and Anton Vikharev, 29, all citizens and residents of Russia, along with Stanislav Lukyantsev, 34, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Kyrgyzstan residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were charged in a 25-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. on February 23, 2021.

The indictment alleges that all four defendants participated in a conspiracy to defraud the United States by filing fraudulent federal income tax returns using stolen identities. The tax returns claimed fraudulent refunds, the indictment says, which were deposited into accounts controlled by the conspirators at several banks in the United States. Co-conspirators allegedly withdrew the proceeds of their fraudulent scheme in cash from ATMs, then deposited the cash into other bank accounts. They allegedly wire transferred much of the money to Pavlov, Shenke, and Vikharev in Russia.

According to the indictment, co-conspirators filed 7,167 false and fraudulent tax returns for the tax years 2011 to 2016. The returns claimed $11,178,361 in fraudulent refunds. The Internal Revenue Service paid at least $2,020,569 in fraudulent tax refunds, of which conspirators wire transferred at least $1,411,082 to bank accounts in Russia.

In addition to the conspiracy, the indictment charges various defendants in 19 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering.

The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen D. Mahoney and Mary Kate Butterfield. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The indictment charges the four defendants as follows:

• Alexander Pavlov, Dmitrii Shenke, Anton Vikharev, and Stanislav Lukyantsev - Conspiracy to defraud the United States; wire fraud; money laundering.

Defendant Status:

Stanislav Lukyantsev, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Kyrgyzstan residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was arrested in Philadelphia on February 23, 2021. Vikharev was arrested in Canada on June 4, 2021.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/three-russian-men-one-us-citizen-indicted-11-million-tax-fraud-conspiracy