A North Miami Beach resident was sentenced to 84 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $585,070, for his participation in stolen identity tax and unemployment insurance claims fraud schemes.
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), William Hernandez, Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department (NMBPD), Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations Miami Office (DOL-OIG), Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, and Carlos Canino, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), made the announcement.
Elton Lloyd Bandoo, a/k/a “Ebdaiceman”, previously pled guilty to one count of possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(3), and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1).
According to court documents, on February 6, 2015, law enforcement executed a federal search warrant at Bandoo's residence. While executing the search warrant, law enforcement seized several computers and external media devices that contained the personal identification information (PII) of approximately 27,000 victims. In addition, law enforcement discovered papers, including billing forms from a medical facility, handwritten lists of names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, and printed lists of names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, of approximately 1,400 individuals. Bandoo's fingerprints were discovered on the papers containing the victims' PII.
The IRS confirmed that the PII on which Bandoo's fingerprints were discovered was used to file fraudulent tax returns, many in the names of deceased individuals, seeking $1,073,112 in fraudulent refunds. Bandoo’s IP address was used to request $11,804 in unauthorized payments on nine fraudulent unemployment insurance claims.
In total, the amount of intended loss resulting from Bandoo’s fraudulent schemes is $14,826,443.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, NMBPD, DOL-OIG, ICE-HSI, and ATF. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie R. Galvin.
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.