Latest news with #InternalRevenueServiceCriminalInvestigation
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
8 Mass. residents accused of stealing tax refund checks totaling more than $8.8M, US Attorney says
Eight Massachusetts residents have been charged in the theft of U.S. Treasury tax refund checks totaling more than $8.8 million in 2023 and 2024, the U.S. Attorney said Friday. Six of the residents were arrested Friday. Two remain at large, authorities said. Each of the U.S. Treasury checks that were stolen represented a tax refund or tax credit due to a taxpayer, but were altered to be payable to shell companies controlled by the residents, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement. Each resident allegedly deposited one or more fraudulent checks at banks or credit unions in and around metro Boston, Foley said. Foley said the following people are charged in separate indictments: Gurprit Singh, 34, of Framingham, charged with theft of $2,547,508 in government funds; Eric Banks, 70, of Quincy, charged with theft of $1,173,482 in government funds; Jesse El-Ghoul, 31, of Leominster, charged with theft of $1,355,863 in government funds; Domingo Villari, 49, of Framingham, charged with theft of $1,288,575 in government funds; Nnamdi Opara, 30, of Woburn, charged with theft of $700,767 in government funds; Gino Rosario Tyler Alexander Allegra, 31, of Brockton, charged with theft of $861,646 in government funds; Amarpreet Singh, 33, of Framingham, charged with theft of $536,214 in government funds; Lonnie Smith-Matthews, 33, of Hyde Park, charged with theft of $150,000 in government funds and bank fraud of $232,588. Gurprit Singh, Banks, El-Ghoul, Opara, Smith-Matthews and Villari are in federal custody and were scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston on Friday. Allegra and Amarpreet Singh remain at large, Foley said. 'As alleged, these defendants stole millions in tax refunds owed to hardworking Americans and used Massachusetts businesses and community banks to defraud the U.S. Treasury,' Foley said. 'Would-be thieves should understand that taking government money is not a victimless crime. If you cash or deposit a refund check that you know is not yours, you will be prosecuted,' Foley said. 'This office and its law enforcement partners are committed to rooting out fraud and abuse in the federal tax system.' Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office, said Friday's arrests demonstrate his agency's 'commitment to identifying, investigating, and prosecuting all instances of Treasury check theft.' 'The theft and altering of Treasury checks is a growing issue that impacts all Americans,' Demeo said. 'IRS-CI will continue to work diligently to bring all those who prey on American taxpayers to justice.' For the charge of theft of government funds, each defendant faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. For the charge of bank fraud, Smith-Matthews faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Yahoo
Hot Springs man sentenced to 4-plus years for money laundering, wire fraud
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – An Arkansas man has been sentenced to federal prison and fined for money laundering and wire fraud. Officials said 57-year-old John Christopher Bates of Hot Springs waived indictment and pleaded guilty to the two charges. He was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $252,344 in restitution on March 12. Arkansas man convicted for Oklahoma bank robbery Investigators said the charges arose from two different schemes: In the first, Bates was involved in false benefit applications to the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services for pandemic unemployment assistance, and the second, he filed fraudulent applications for an Economic Disaster Loan of over $1 million. Officials said the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General investigated the case. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
NBC News
05-03-2025
- NBC News
$21M stolen from hundreds of U.S. retirees in 'grandparent scam,' prosecutors say
Twenty-five Canadian suspects are charged with bilking American elders of $21 million as part of a "grandparent scam," according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday. All 25, said to have operated out of Montreal and resided there or elsewhere in the province of Quebec, were charged with wire fraud in a case alleging they were part of a tech-savvy operation that victimized hundreds of U.S. retirees, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for Vermont. Thomas Demeo, special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation in Boston, said the defendants are part of a "transnational criminal enterprise with the sole intent of defrauding hundreds of retirees of their life savings by preying on their emotions and deceiving them into thinking that their loved ones were in peril." Twenty-three of the 25 suspects were arrested in Canada on Tuesday, according to the statement. Two remain at large, though the statement didn't indicate where they are believed to be. Prosecutors said defendants used a narrative known to law enforcement as the "grandparent scam": A grandparent is called and urged to send thousands of dollars to bail out a teenage or adult grandchild who was in a vehicle collision and then arrested. As part of the story, victims are told the grandchild's case is under a strict gag order, and they're prohibited from telling anyone about their request for money, prosecutors said. Investigators found victims in 40 states, from Alabama to Wyoming, according to the indictment and statement. While federal prosecutors estimated the operation's earnings at $21 million, it wasn't clear what individual victims lost. The federal grand jury indictment filed under seal Feb. 20 in Vermont, where some of the victims live, includes an additional charge of money laundering for five of the suspects, who allegedly tried to hide the origins of their gains, the document stated. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney in Vermont did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night. U.S. prosecutors said some of the defendants were making calls to potential victims in Vermont when they were found at Montreal-area call centers in June of last year during raids by Canadian law enforcement. The U.S. Attorney's statement indicated the operation had been active since 2021. Five of the suspects, including the two who have yet to be arrested, helped manage the call centers, according to the U.S. Attorney's statement. The indictment alleged all the defendants were part of a sophisticated operation, with some specializing in cold calling potential victims and, if they got traction, handing the call off to "closers" who would try to get the potential victims to send money or have the cash ready for pickup. The calls were based on spreadsheets detailing information on potential victims, including names, addresses, phone numbers and estimated household income, according to the indictment. The operation relied on contemporary technology that was used to mask calls coming from Quebec so that they appeared to come from the United States, prosecutors said in the indictment. The alleged scammers frequently changed their phone numbers by switching the SIM cards on phones they used, prosecutors said. The operation had associates posing as bail bond firm workers pick up cash from victims' homes, prosecutors said in the indictment, but sometimes a victim was in an area out of reach. That's when the defendants allegedly used ride-hailing services that offer pickup and delivery to collect the money. Other times, they would have victims mail the money to a home they had identified as abandoned through searches on real estate websites, according to the indictment. And when it came time to get the gains to Canada, prosecutors said in Tuesday's statement, the suspects sometimes used cryptocurrency in an effort to obscure the source of the money. Prosecutors will seek forfeiture of the allegedly stolen funds, according to the indictment. The five defendants who face charges of wire fraud and money laundering face the possibility of 40 years behind bars if successfully convicted, according to the U.S. Attorney's statement. The 20 who face a single charge, that of wire fraud, would face 20 years, it said. The defendants have not appeared in federal court, according to court records, and it's unclear whether they've retained lawyers. The federal public defender's office for Vermont did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CBS News
27-02-2025
- CBS News
Drug "kingpin" sentenced to 27 years in prison for Michigan trafficking conspiracy
An Arizona man who has connections to Michigan will serve 27 years in prison for his leadership role in a multi-state drug trafficking conspiracy. Jason Denmyers, 44, is the seventh person to be sentenced as a result of the investigation, according to the press release from Andrew Birge, acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. U.S. District Judge Jane M. Beckering issued the sentence of 324 months in prison, describing Demyers as a "kingpin" in a "nationally orchestrated drug trafficking organization." The organization distributed cocaine and methamphetamine in and around Detroit, Lansing and Kalamazoo between August 2022 and July 2024. The district attorney's office said Demyers personally coordinated the shipment to Michigan of nearly 10 kilograms of methamphetamine. He also worked with couriers who flew from Michigan to California with money resulting from drug sales; then flew back to Michigan with illegal drugs. During the investigation, officers seized nearly 10 kilograms of methamphetamine, eight kilograms of cocaine, multiple pieces of real property used to facilitate the drug trafficking conspiracy, and jewelry valued at approximately $325,000. There were 14 people charged in the case; of which 12 have pleaded guilty and two are participating in a pretrial diversion program. Sentencings are still taking place, and will wrap up by June. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Lansing Police Department began the investigation into the drug trafficking organization in October 2022, working in partnership with Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office. This case, dubbed Operation Cold as Ice, became part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation. "This case is a prime example of how a seemingly small investigation can evolve into a large-scale operation, thanks to the dedicated collaboration between our local, state, and federal partners," said Lansing Police Chief Rob Backus.
