James Ekeke, Tax Fraud, Delaware 2015

A Smyrna, Georgia man has been sentenced to 54 months in prison for his role in a $4 million tax fraud scheme involving over 600 stolen identities.

James Ekeke, 26, was sentenced by the Honorable Leonard P. Stark, United States District Judge for the District of Delaware, on February 26, 2015, to 54 months imprisonment and full restitution.

The defendant pleaded guilty to violations of 18 U.S.C. § 286 (False Claims Conspiracy) and 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(3) (Access Device Fraud) in February 2015.

According to court filings and statements at the sentencing hearing, the defendant and his co-conspirators attempted to obtain more than $4,000,000 in taxpayer funds from the United States Department of Treasury, through the filing of false tax returns.

The defendant was personally responsible for purchasing and supplying more than 600 stolen identities to others, and he personally filed many fraudulent tax returns, receiving a significant portion of the proceeds.

The Department of Treasury lost more than $1.2 million in taxpayer funds, and the hundreds of individuals whose identities were used suffered the compromise of their personal information.

Judge Stark remarked, “The losses to the identity theft victims are hard to quantify.”

The defendant began participating in fraudulent conduct within months of entering the United States, and he continued to participate in tax fraud after one of his co-conspirators was arrested.

This case is the result of an ongoing investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Paxton.

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