A Georgia couple has pleaded guilty for their role in an identity theft scheme that poached information from an IRS database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anthony Alika, 42, and his wife Sonia Alika, 27, each entered guilty pleas on April 22 for money laundering and creating cash withdrawals to evade bank reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Department of Justice officials said that in 2015, the Austell, Ga. couple used stolen personal information to access the IRS’s “Get Transcript” database, an online feature that allows a taxpayer to access copies of their tax accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IRS officials discovered that the database had been breached in May 2015, with the information of more than a million taxpayers at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Alikas, along with Rapheal Atebefia, 33, of Austell, then used the information they gleaned from the “Get Transcript” database to file fake tax returns and claim the refunds. The group then used prepaid debit cards registered in multiple states to direct the IRS where to deposit the refunds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the refunds were deposited on the prepaid cards, the Anthony Alika and Atebefia used them to obtain money orders. The trio then deposited the money orders into bank accounts and then withdrew the funds in a way avoided having the banks file Currency Transaction Reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of a plea deal, Anthony Alika admitted to depositing money orders he received from several people into bank accounts he and his wife had opened. He then metered out the withdrawals in increments of less than $10,000 so as to not trigger a CTR. Sonia Alika admitted that she withdrew more than $250,000 in funds from the bank accounts in her name between February and June 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anthony Alika faces up to 20 years in prison, while Sonia Alika could receive a maximum 10-year sentence. The pair may also receive numerous fines and forfeitures as a result of the charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Atebefia pleaded guilty in March and will be sentenced on June 22. The Alikas are scheduled to be sentenced on July 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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