Last week, it was announced that a federal grand jury in Brooklyn, New York had returned indictments against two tax return preparation business owners. The two business owners are accused of being involved in stolen identity tax return fraud. First, Brooklyn resident and owner of Kaybamz Inc., Hakeem Bamgbala, and two accomplices, Afolabi Ajelero and Michael Campbell, were charged with conspiring to commit aggravated identity theft and aggravated identity theft.
Bamgbala and Ajelero also face a charge of wire fraud. The indictment claims that Bamgbala and Ajelero used stolen IDs to file taxes with the IRS and to obtain refunds that they were not entitled. The two are accused of purchasing tax refund products that gave them the ability to print refund checks. Then, the IRS deposited the refunds directly into their bank account. The three defendants allegedly conspired to deposit the checks into a second account and proceeded to withdraw the funds.
A second indictment was returned against the owner of Pace Financial Services, which is based out of Springfield Gardens. Oyeniyi Jaiyesimi had been charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and filing fraudulent tax returns. The indictment alleges that Jaiyesimi used stolen identities to file fraudulent returns and to obtain refunds that he was not entitled.
The indictment also claims that Jaiyesimi filed returns for clients that fraudulently claimed dependents using stolen IDs. At this point in time, the defendants are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.