Four Defendants Sentenced to Prison for Stolen Identity Tax Fraud Scheme

Four defendants were sentenced to federal prison for their participation in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Steve Steinberg, Chief, Aventura Police Department, made the announcement.

Wolf Obin, 32, of Miami-Dade, was sentenced to 64 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Stanley Moscova, 28, of Miami-Dade, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Rosny Muller, 29, of Broward County, was sentenced to 33 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. These three defendants were previously convicted at trial of one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 286, and one count of possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(3). Obin and Moscova were also convicted of three counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.

According to evidence presented at trial, beginning in October 2011, Obin, Moscova, and Muller fraudulently obtained Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFINs) in the names of other individuals who acted as “straw” EFIN holders which allowed the defendants to submit tax returns in the names of other individuals. The defendants then used those EFINs, as well as EFINs in their own names, to file fraudulent federal income tax returns with the IRS using the stolen personal identifying information (PII) of other individuals without their knowledge and authority. During a search warrant of the defendants’ Aventura apartment, law enforcement discovered the PII of more than 1,600 individuals. Through their tax filings, the defendants claimed approximately $2,300,000 in fraudulent federal tax refunds from the IRS.

In a separate but related case, defendant Leonard Rosalvo Obin (Case Number 16CR20525), was sentenced to 30 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Leonard Obin previously pled guilty to one count of possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, and one count of aggravated identity theft. During the search warrant, law enforcement found a phone and flash drive in Leonard Obin’s pants pockets. The phone and flash drive contained the names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers of 86 and 91 individuals, respectively.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and the Aventura Police Department. These cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew J. Langley and Luis M. Perez.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.