A federal grand jury sitting in St. Louis, Missouri, indicted a St. Louis resident on mail fraud and aggravated identity theft charges relating to a scheme to steal public school employees’ IDs and use them to file federal tax returns, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Richard G. Callahan for the Eastern District of Missouri.
According to the indictment returned on Feb. 1 and unsealed today, Kevin K. Williams stole public school employees’ IDs from a payroll company and used them to electronically file fraudulent federal income tax returns in the name of those employees. He also allegedly stole several tax preparation businesses’ Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFINs), which he used to secure bank products that allowed him to print refund checks and direct refunds to prepaid debit cards. The indictment alleges that Williams had printed refund checks issued in the names of the stolen IDs, and blank check stock and debit cards sent to his residence.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted, Williams faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each mail fraud count and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. Williams also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, monetary penalties and forfeiture.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and U.S. Attorney Callahan commended special agents of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service as well as the Dothan Alabama Police Department and Alexander City Alabama Police Department, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Michael C. Boteler and Charles M. Edgar, Jr. of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Missouri and Middle District of Alabama.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Source: US Department of Justice
