GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A Lansing man faces over 20 years in prison after being convicted Monday of federal fraud and identity theft charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Grand Rapids says that Oghevwakpo Igboba was convicted of one count of wire fraud, eight counts of making a false claim to the United States and eight counts of aggravated identity theft. The wire fraud conviction carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison and the other counts could add up to two years for each of the identity theft charges. The false claims charges could add up to another ten years in prison.
The U.S. Attorney says that Igboba used others identification to access tax information using an Internal Revenue Service website. He then used that information to file false federal income tax returns, collecting IRS refunds to different bank accounts that he controlled.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge says that Igboba collected at least $57,000 in his crimes. The IRS did stop some of the returns from being issued, but Igboba was able to access tax information for over 100 people in the IRS systems. Evidence at the trial showed that Igboba conspired with several others abroad and in the U.S. to compile the personal information and divert the tax returns.
