Identity Theft In New York

..... 19 Ghanaians Charged
..... They Netted $7 Million in Tax Refunds
NY, (USA) -- Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged 19 people - all Ghanaians - with being part of an identity theft ring in the Bronx that obtained at least $7 million in federal tax refunds by filing thousands of fraudulent income tax returns.

The defendants are all believed to be from Ghana. Two are naturalized American citizens, and several others have been living in the United States illegally.

The scheme relied in part on a corrupt tax preparer in the Bronx who used stolen Social Security numbers to create the fake returns, the office of United States Attorney James B. Comey said yesterday.

The tax preparer eventually agreed to cooperate with federal authorities, and continued to carry out the fraud while the government secretly recorded conversations and gathered other evidence, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in United States District Court in Manhattan. The tax preparer, who has not been identified, has pleaded guilty as part of a deal with the government, the complaint said.

In some cases, the conspirators provided the preparer with names and identifying information for people to be listed as taxpayers or their dependents, many of whom were dead or who otherwise did not file tax returns, the complaint said.

It also said the tax preparer was paid $70 to $150 for each tax return submitted with the fraudulently obtained Social Security numbers. Typically, the returns yielded refunds of about $2,500 each, the complaint said.

The defendants even used the Internal Revenue Service's system for filing electronic tax returns. After making such filings, the defendants got loans in anticipation of their fraudulent refunds, according to the complaint, which was signed by Whitney V. Adams, an agent with the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration.

The complaint said other tax preparers were involved in the conspiracy, although it did not identify them.

Seventeen of the defendants have been taken into custody, while two others are fugitives, Mr. Comey's office said.

Many of the conversations secretly recorded by the government with the assistance of the cooperating witness were conducted in Twi, a language of Ghana, the complaint said. It noted, however, that "certain telling words," like "socials," for Social Security numbers, were spoken in English.

Lawyers for several defendants who were being taken before a magistrate yesterday said they had no comment on the charges.