Baltimore Man Gets 42 Months for $655K Tax Fraud

BALTIMORE, MD – Adebola Opeyemi Adeniyi, 32, of Baltimore, is heading to federal prison after being sentenced to 42 months today for his role in a sophisticated stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) scheme. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz also ordered Adeniyi to pay $550,000 in restitution after he admitted to defrauding the IRS out of over $655,000 by exploiting stolen personal information.

The scheme, spanning from October 17, 2013, to March 17, 2015, involved filing false tax returns and diverting the fraudulently obtained refunds to prepaid debit cards. Adeniyi wasn’t just relying on random stolen data; he actively exploited the fallout from the 2013 Target Store data breach, re-encoding magnetic strips on payment cards to further fuel the operation. This allowed the conspirators to purchase money orders – totaling at least $665,635 – which were then cashed at various businesses.

Federal investigators uncovered that Adeniyi’s network extended beyond the initial IRS fraud. At least $80,500 in money orders were cashed using account information stolen during the Target breach. Co-conspirator Mayowa Towobola provided account numbers and security codes for at least $100,874 in fraudulently obtained funds loaded onto prepaid debit cards, while Towobola himself cashed $58,524 in fraudulent money orders. Text messages recovered from Adeniyi and Towobola’s phones revealed discussions of loading a staggering $1,237,358 onto prepaid cards.

But the fraud didn’t stop at simply cashing money orders. Adeniyi used the illicit funds to purchase vehicles at Maryland auctions, arranging for their shipment to Nigeria. He also engaged in currency exchange, exchanging U.S. dollars for Nigerian currency at cut-rate prices, effectively laundering the stolen money across international borders. This highlights the international scope of the operation and the lengths to which Adeniyi went to conceal his crimes.

Adeniyi isn’t the only one facing consequences. Mayowa Olabiyi Towobola, 26, of Parkville, Maryland, received a 33-month sentence, while Hafis Omowonuola Oladokun, 39, of Owings Mills, Maryland, was sentenced to two years. Towobola was also ordered to pay $159,398 in restitution. Another conspirator, Adeolu Adeola Solabu, 25, of Baltimore, has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing on April 14, 2017.

The case was a collaborative effort led by U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein, ICE Homeland Security Investigations, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the Baltimore County Police Department. The Maryland Identity Theft Working Group, active since 2006, played a key role in fostering cooperation between agencies and prosecuting identity theft schemes. This sentencing serves as a warning: exploiting stolen identities and defrauding the government will be met with aggressive investigation and severe penalties.

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