Tax Fraud Scammer Gets 14 Years

[Red Cedar PM]

Leader of Identity-Theft, Tax-Fraud
Scheme Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison
ST. LOUIS—The leader of a multimillion dollar tax fraud conspiracy was sentenced Nov. 13 to 14 years in prison, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri John F. Wood announced the same day (United States v. Alexander, W.D. Mo., No. 4:07-CR-002520-NKL, sentenced 11/13/08).
Loretta Wavinya had previously admitted that she was the leader of a conspiracy to steal the identities of hundreds of victims, primarily residents of nursing homes, and that the identity information was used to seek more than $15 million in fraudulent federal tax refunds.
In addition, Wavinya's sister, Lillian Nzongi, who also took part in the scheme, was sentenced the same day to five years and 10 months in prison without parole.
“These two defendants came to the United States on student visas, and instead of building a life here, they exploited our online tax refund system to the tune of millions of dollars,” Wood said in a statement. “Today's lengthy sentences send a clear message to others who may be considering cheating the taxpayers or using other people's identities.”
According to the statement, Wavinya pled guilty in June 2008 to her leadership role in the conspiracy, in which conspirators used stolen identity information to file more than 540 fraudulent federal tax returns, using the names of more than 500 identity-theft victims. Conspirators also filed up to six state tax returns with each federal return, causing a loss to at least 27 states.
Conspirators claimed more than $15 million in fraudulent tax refunds in the names of the victims, and received at least $2.3 million in refunds, the statement said.
Tax Preparer Gained Information.
Wavinya was in a position to organize the conspiracy because she worked as a tax preparer and as a certified radiology technician for a company that visited patients at nursing homes in the Kansas City, Mo., area, the statement said. In the course of her employment, she had access to the patient-identity information that was used in the conspiracy, and also was able to recruit employees of the health-care facilities to steal the identity information of patients. Investigators found the identity information of hundreds of nursing home patients, including both medical and financial information, in Wavinya's residence and in a storage locker she maintained, it said.
The statement said that Wavinya filed more fraudulent returns than any other member of the conspiracy, and received the largest share of the proceeds, much of which she invested overseas. In addition, Wavinya taught other conspirators how to file fraudulent tax returns.
As part of the scheme, Wavinya and other conspirators arranged for mail related to the returns to be sent to commercial mailboxes across Kansas City, and concealed their own identities by using runners to pick up the mail, the statement said. The runners also were used to withdraw money from bank accounts that had been set up by conspirators to receive the fraudulent tax refunds. Lillian Nzongi pled guilty in July 2008 to acting as a runner in the scheme, and also to using a stolen identity to transfer funds to Nairobi, Kenya.
Previously, three others pled guilty and were sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy. They were Vincent N. Ogega, who was sentenced to 121/2 months in prison and ordered to pay $69,300 in restitution; Aaron Mutavi, who was sentenced to time served and ordered to pay $36,650 in restitution; and Rashira Lewis, who was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $53,773 in restitution.
In addition, four others pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing. They are Moses Ndubai, Karingithi G. Kamau, Jeanette Alexander, and Michael Anderson.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel M. Nelson and Curt Bohling. Attorneys for the defendants could not be reached for comment.

Glad to see this scumbag who preys on some of the most vulernable and destitute people in our country will rot in prison for a long time before she roasts in hell. The size of this scam is astounding - I have to hope the IRS will be able to catch these scams more quickly in the future.