Identity Thief Sentenced to 65 Months in Prison
EUGENE, Ore.—Lateef Aina Animawun, a 37-year-old Nigerian citizen and former resident of Atlanta, Georgia, has been sentenced to 65 months in federal prison for his role in a nationwide identity theft and IRS tax fraud scheme. Animawun was also ordered to pay $2,304,044.92 in restitution and will be subject to deportation upon completion of his prison sentence.
According to court documents, in May 2013, a Medford victim notified the IRS that false federal and Oregon state tax returns were filed electronically using her and her husband’s names. The returns included personally identifiable information (PII) including their social security numbers and dates of birth.
An IRS investigation led to search warrants of residences in Illinois, Maryland, and Georgia and numerous email and instant messenger accounts used by the defendant and other co-conspirators to further their fraudulent scheme. Agents seized prepaid debit cards with fraudulent tax refunds still on them, approximately $79,000 worth of money orders, over $14,000 in cash, and electronic devices.
The IRS determined that the co-conspirators obtained the stolen PII of more than 250,000 victims. This included stolen identities from the database of an Oregon company purchased from sources in Vietnam by one of the co-conspirators. Additionally, the co-conspirators gained access to the IRS “Get Transcript” system where they obtained sensitive taxpayer information on their identity theft victims and used it to file fraudulent tax returns.
Agents found thousands of stolen identities in Animawun’s email accounts, many of them originating from co-defendant Emmanuel Kazeem. Animawun directly accessed victim IRS taxpayer transcripts, used prepaid debit cards set up with the stolen identities to file numerous fraudulent tax returns, and wired fraudulent tax refunds to Nigeria.
Last August, a federal jury in Medford convicted Emmanuel Kazeem of 19 counts of mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The sentencing for Oluwamuyiwa Olawoye is scheduled for April 19, 2018, for his role in the offenses. Three other co-defendants, Oluwaseunara Osanyinbi, Oluwatobi Dehinbo, and Michael Kazeem, have been sentenced.
This case results from a joint investigation by IRS-Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the FBI. Investigative support was provided by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the U.S. Department of State; and, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and Enforcement and Removal Operations. Byron Chatfield and Gavin Bruce, Assistant United States Attorneys, are prosecuting the case for the District of Oregon.
Key Facts
- State: Oregon
- Category: Cybercrime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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