A Marietta, Georgia, resident pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia today to one count of theft of public money and one count of aggravated identity theft, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney John A. Horn of the Northern District of Georgia.
Peter Isika, 46, admitted using stolen identities to file at least 50 false tax returns for tax years 2013 and 2014 claiming more than $500,000 in fraudulent refunds. Isika admitted that he purchased the stolen identities over the Internet and used those identities to obtain the fraudulent tax refunds. Isika directed the refunds to prepaid debit cards or bank accounts that he controlled.
A sentencing date has not been scheduled for Isika. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the theft of public money charge and an additional statutory mandatory sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. He also faces a term of supervised release and monetary penalties.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Horn commended special agents of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, who investigated the case and Trial Attorneys Jason Poole and Mara Strier of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kamal Ghali, who are prosecuting the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Source: US Department of Justice
