Georgia man gets 2 years after stealing University of Iowa employees’ identities

DAVENPORT - A Georgia man was sentenced to two years in federal prison last week in connection with a scheme to obtain over $60,000 in fraudulent tax refunds from University of Iowa employees in 2015.

Edoghogho Collins Oloton, 33, of Sandy Springs, Ga., was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa to 24 months for conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the scheme to steal tax refunds using identification information from UI employees, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Oloton also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

'Today's sentencing reflects how seriously the courts take federal tax crimes,” Internal Revenue Service Acting Special Agent in Charge David Talcott said in a statement. 'Mr. Oloton was knowledgeable of the stolen identity - refund fraud scheme and illegally obtained the proceeds of the fraud for his own benefit.”

The fraudsters committed wire and mail fraud by using the stolen identities to apply for both state and federal income tax returns and provided debit card account numbers to the IRS, so fraudulent refunds could be loaded on the cards by wire transfers, according to court documents.

The cards then were used to buy money orders, many in the Atlanta area. The money orders had false payee names and were distributed to Oloton and others involved in the scheme.

Oloton then worked with others to launder dozens of money orders bought with the proceeds of the tax refunds, prosecutors said.

More than $60,000 from tax refunds of UI employees were obtained through this scheme, and more than $1.4 million in fraudulent funds passed through bank accounts associated with the scheme from across the country in February, March and April 2015.

Oloton would receive money in his checking account from an account another fraudster set up in the name of 'Florence Transport,” which was used for unlawful activity, according to the plea agreement.

In early 2015, prepaid debit cards obtained in the names of nine UI employees were bought at various locations around the country, the plea states. The cards were activated online and then fraudulent tax returns were filed electronically to the IRS. The refunds then were loaded on the debit cards.

Oloton understood that the loaded debit cards were used to purchase money orders that were later deposited into the Florence Transport bank accounts. Many of the deposits were for more than $10,000, according to the plea.

In April 2015, one of the wire transfers for $44,932 was made to the Florence Transport account for the purchase of a 2014 Mercedes-Benz E-class convertible, which was in Oloton's name, the plea states.

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