Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Edner Escarne, 52, a former manager at the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, was charged in an indictment unsealed today with four counts of tax evasion and five counts of failing to file a tax return.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A defendant who served more than 11 years in prison for a child pornography offense then re-engaged with an individual he believed to be the mother of three minor girls to discuss his sexual desires with the girls was sentenced in federal court here today to 378 months in prison.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Indictments were unsealed today in the Northern District of Georgia and the Western District of Texas charging a Georgia man and a resident of the United Kingdom and Nigeria with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft and other crimes arising out of a scheme to defraud the IRS using stolen identities.
According to the indictment, Akinade Adedeji Raheem, 43, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Abayomi Quadri Eletu, 42, of the United Kingdom and Nigeria, conspired together and with others to claim fraudulent tax refunds using the stolen identities of accountants and taxpayers. Over the course of their scheme, the co-conspirators allegedly filed more than 300 false tax returns claiming over $100 million in refunds from the IRS.
Between 2018 and 2023, Eletu, Raheem and others allegedly obtained identifying information for tax professionals and taxpayers, including their names, addresses, and Social Security numbers, by creating online accounts with the IRS and requesting private taxpayer information. As part of the scheme, they changed the addresses of taxpayers to an address controlled by the co-conspirators, so the IRS would correspond with the co-conspirators instead of the taxpayers. They also submitted “change of address” requests to the U.S. Postal Service to cause the mail of some taxpayers to be forwarded to a co-conspirator’s address. Using the personal identifying information of others, Eletu, Raheem and their co-conspirators electronically filed tax returns claiming fraudulent refunds, then allegedly directed the IRS to split the refunds among several prepaid debit cards. Before issuing some of these tax refunds, the IRS sent verification letters to the addresses controlled by the co-conspirators, who, pretending to be the taxpayers, fraudulently verified the taxpayers’ identities and instructed the IRS to release the refunds.
Eletu allegedly directed Raheem and others to obtain prepaid debit cards to receive the anticipated fraudulent tax refunds. Once the refunds were deposited onto the prepaid debit cards, they laundered some of the funds by purchasing, among other things, money orders from U.S. Postal Offices and local stores in amounts low enough to avoid reporting thresholds. They also used the money orders to purchase used cars from auction sites, some of which they shipped to Nigeria, as well as designer clothing and other items.
Eletu was arrested in the UK at the request of the United States.
Both defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Eletu was also charged with five counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud, seven counts of access device fraud and 21 counts of aggravated identity theft. Raheem is also charged with 14 counts of access device fraud and 14 counts of aggravated identity theft. The defendants face maximum penalties of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, 20 years for money laundering and 10 years for access device fraud, as well as a mandatory sentence of two years for aggravated identity theft.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg for the Northern District of Georgia made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration are investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in this matter. The United States also thanks the United Kingdom for its valuable assistance in the investigation.
Senior Litigation Counsel Michael C. Boteler and Trial Attorney Michael Jones of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Pearce for the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the cases. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas has provided substantial assistance to the investigation.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Baltimore, Maryland – A former Baltimore City School police officer and Dunbar High School football coach is heading to federal prison in connection with federal wire-fraud and tax-evasion charges. U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Lawrence Earl Smith, Jr. 52, of Perry Hall, Maryland, today, to one year and one day in prison for creating and executing a scheme to submit fraudulent overtime slips.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Indictments have been unsealed in the Northern District of Georgia and the Western District of Texas charging a Georgia man, Akinade Adedeji Raheem, and a resident of the United Kingdom and Nigeria, Abayomi Quadri Eletu, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft and other crimes arising out of a scheme to defraud the IRS using stolen identities.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
EDWARD J. SODLOSKY, 72, of Middlebury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to three months of imprisonment and one year of supervised release for tax evasion. Judge Bolden also ordered Sodlosky to pay a $50,000 fine.
Source: United States Navy
Beginning April 23, 2026, active duty and reserve Sailors who have a MILITARY STAR® Card will automatically receive a $1,000 military uniform line of credit on their account. This line of credit is determined by eligibility in Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS), not a credit score.
Source: United States Navy
The Marine Corps recently conducted shipboard testing with the TRV-150C Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft System (TRUAS) aboard a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock (LPD), marking a significant milestone in advancing ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship resupply solutions for Combat Logistics Battalions (CLBs).
Source: United States Navy
On Jan. 14, 2025, a commercial SpaceX rocket successfully launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying an NPS small satellite, also known as a CubeSat, called Otter. Two hours later, a small team of NPS researchers huddled inside the school’s Satellite Operations Center (SOC), the hub for interacting with NPS assets in space as well as the central node of its globe-spanning Mobile CubeSat Command and Control (MC3) ground network.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A federal jury in the District of Minnesota convicted a Minnesota man today of possessing a machine gun created by attaching an illegal machine gun conversion device to a semi-automatic firearm.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Amiir Mawlid Ali, 19, of Minneapolis, was arrested after officers found a machine gun in his possession during a routine traffic stop as he was on the way to a high school graduation. Mr. Ali tried to flee the scene during the traffic stop but officers apprehended him before he could get away. The firearm was equipped with a machine gun conversion device and an extended magazine, which was loaded with over 30 rounds of ammunition. A firearm expert testified at trial that the machine gun possessed by Ali test fired 15 bullets in 2 seconds.
“This defendant possessed an extremely dangerous weapon – a machine gun created by the application of a device known as a switch that converts a legal firearm to an illegal one,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Illegal weapons like this are unduly dangerous and offer nothing legitimate in a law abiding society. The Criminal Division will continue to prosecute illegal firearms offenses like this one to keep communities safe.”
“The verdict announced today makes clear that possession of a firearm modified to function as a machine gun will not be tolerated,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson of the FBI Minneapolis Field Office. “The FBI is proud of our work on this case, and we thank our Local, State and Federal law enforcement partners for their assistance. Together we will work to stop those who put innocent lives in our community at risk.”
The jury convicted Ali on one count of possession of a machine gun. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
The FBI investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Alexandra Swain of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Albania Concepción for the District of Minnesota are prosecuting the case.