HOUSTON - A 29-year-old from Nigeria who was residing in Houston has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Oriola Samuel Odulate pleaded guilty Jan. 26, 2017, to conspiracy to steal public money.
Today, U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett sentenced him to 24 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $268,017 in restitution to the IRS.
Odulate and other unknown coconspirators defrauded the government by filing false and fraudulent income tax returns. Co-conspirators unlawfully acquired the personal identifying information (PII) of others such as names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and addresses. They then used the unlawfully acquired PII to file fraudulent tax returns that requested refunds in the names of the victims.
The IRS sent refunds to bank accounts that Odulate opened and controlled. He received the money from the unlawful refunds, withdrew it from his bank account and then distributed the funds to co-conspirators.
IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
