In Austin today, 32-year-old Adefemi Olokodana (aka “Coker Akosua Paul”), a Nigerian national residing in Austin, was sentenced to six years in federal prison for his role in a scheme to collect millions of dollars in tax refunds using stolen identification information. On January 22, Olokodana had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, admitting that from January 2010 until May 2015, he used stolen personal identification information to file hundreds of fraudulent tax returns. Olokodana collected millions of dollars in refunds based on those fraudulent tax returns.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel ordered that Olokodana pay approximately $4.3 million restitution and be placed on supervised release for a period of three years after completing his prison term.
The prosecutors did not indicate how or where Olokodana had obtained the identity information used in the scheme, and most of the court filings that might give us a clue are sealed.
SOURCE: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas