A former Miami resident was found guilty of orchestrating a massive tax refund scheme that used the personal identifying information (PII) of medical patients, a federal jury announced.
Kenol Augustin, 36, of Miami, was convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(b).
The scheme was uncovered in January 2012, when an individual recruited into the scheme accessed their employer’s database and obtained the names and Social Security numbers (PII) of individual medical patients.
This employee then provided a list of individuals’ PII in exchange for a cash payment made by defendant Augustin. Augustin and his co-conspirators then caused false and fraudulent tax returns seeking refunds to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service using the PII that the conspirators had so obtained.
According to court documents, Augustin’s co-conspirator, Barnard, was sentenced to 36 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $57,000.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James V. Hayes and Gera Peoples. The investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the USSS were also commended.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 15, 2015. At sentencing, Augustin faces up to five years in prison.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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