Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty to Identity Theft and Conspiring to File Fraudulent Tax Refund Claims

A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty to identity theft and conspiring to file fraudulent tax refund claims, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Louis D. Lappen for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

According to documents and information provided to the court, Steeve Zamor, 28, conspired with others to use stolen IDs to file returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fraudulently seeking tax refunds. Zamor also recruited other individuals to join the scheme. Despite not having a tax preparation business, Zamor opened up a bank account in the name of “Steeve Zamor Tax Services” to facilitate the crime. Zamor and his co-conspirators directed the IRS to deposit some of the fraudulently obtained refunds into this account. Zamor withdrew money from this account to provide to other co-conspirators, keeping a substantial portion of the illegal proceeds for his own use. He admitted to causing a tax loss of $366,135.53.

Zamor is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 14 before U.S. District Court Judge John R. Padova. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on the conspiracy charge and 15 years in prison on the identity theft charge, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Lappen commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Ignall and Trial Attorney Eric B. Powers of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.