St. Louis, MO - Precious Agobe, St. Louis County, Missouri, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $510, 358.48 on charges involving his participation in a stolen identity tax fraud and money laundering scheme.
According to court documents, on three occasions in February 2015, Agobe made withdrawals from a Bank of America account which contained the proceeds of fraudulently obtained federal income tax refunds. The total amount of these withdrawals was $8,800. The parties agreed that the loss from these fraudulently obtained income tax returns was between $250,000 and $550,000.
In December 2015, Agobe withdrew $3,000 from a Bank of America account which contained the proceeds of a scheme to defraud in which a business in Kelso, Washington, was induced by fraud to transfer $47,700 from its bank account to a bank account at Bank of the West, in Mission, Kansas. A portion of this money was subsequently transferred to the Bank of America account from which Agobe withdrew $3,000.
In February 2016, 21 counterfeit checks in amounts totaling $99,055, which purported to be drawn on an account of a business in Mustang, Oklahoma, at All America Bank, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, were deposited into an account at Bank of America. Agobe subsequently withdrew $1,990 from this Bank of America account. The parties agreed that the loss from Agobe’s money laundering activity was $68,968.
“Those who commit identity theft and fraud of this magnitude deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law," said Karl Stiften, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation. “Stealing identities and filing false tax returns is a serious crime that causes immense hardship to innocent victims."
Agobe pled guilty in December to three counts of theft of government property and two count of money laundering. He appeared today for sentencing before United States District Judge Ronnie L. White.
This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the Kelso, Washington, Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Steven Muchnick is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
