SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Arkmallah Hilliard, age 38, of Baltimore, Maryland, pled guilty today to conspiring to defraud the United States and admitted to receiving more than $400,000 as a result of filing hundreds of fraudulent tax returns.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; Special Agent in Charge James D. Robnett, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), New York Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Northeast Field Office.
In pleading guilty, Hilliard admitted that he conspired with former Utica resident Anas Wilson and others to defraud the IRS by filing false and fraudulent income tax returns in the names of various individuals and thereby obtained tax refunds to which they knew they were not entitled. Hilliard admitted that he used his own bank accounts and bank accounts he controlled that had been opened by co-conspirators to receive the tax refunds, after which Hilliard and others withdrew, spent, and transferred the money for their own purposes. Wilson previously pled guilty to similar charges and is serving a 12-year prison sentence.
Hilliard will be sentenced on May 23, 2019 by Senior United States District Judge Frederick J. Scullin, Jr.
Hilliard faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, a fine of up to the greater of $250,000 or twice the pecuniary gain to the defendant or the loss to any victim, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years. Hilliard also faces a forfeiture money judgment of up to $462,107.00, representing the unrecovered proceeds he received as part of the conspiracy. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
This case was investigated by IRS-CI and DCIS, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael F. Perry.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
