Middle District of Florida Joins DOJ Fraud Division, IRS, IRS-CI, and the FBI in National Tax Enforcement Surge Exposing More than $490M in Tax Fraud

Tampa, FL - The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida (MDFL) announced today the extradition of Adedotun Abraham Adeyemo (47, of Pretoria, South Africa) and the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging him with two counts of wire fraud and two related counts of aggravated identity theft. Each wire fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and each aggravated identity theft count carries a mandatory two-year prison term, consecutive to any sentence for the underlying felony. This case is part of nationwide enforcement actions led by the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division, Internal Revenue Service, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation targeting tax fraud and related offenses. The MDFL was a key participant in this surge effort.

Between early September and today, the National Fraud Enforcement Division's Tax Section and U.S. Attorneys' Offices across the country participated in the Department's first-ever National Tax Enforcement Surge. The surge of nationwide resources resulted in prosecutorial actions against 76 defendants whose alleged and proven crimes intended an estimated loss of revenue to the federal government of more than $490 million.

"Stealing from taxpayers is intolerable and compromises the solvency of our public services to American citizens," said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe. "We will pursue and prosecute those who commit fraud against our federal institutions and programs, and bring them to justice, wherever they are."

According to the superseding indictment, Adeyemo and other scheme participants obtained unauthorized access to United States-based businesses' computer servers, stole from those servers the personal identifying information ("PII") of United States residents, and then used that stolen PII to file false and fraudulent United States individual income tax returns, seeking refunds to which Adeyemo and his co-schemers were not entitled. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs secured the September extradition from the United Kingdom of Adeyemo with the assistance of the UK authorities. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney MacKay. The asset forfeiture is being handled by Assistant U.S Attorney James A. Muench.

An indictment is only an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This press release details one way in which this office has contributed to ensuring that all Americans pay their fair share. To see the successes of other offices, please see this press release https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/dojs-fraud-division-irs-and-irs-ci-expose-more-490m-tax-fraud-national-tax-enforcement-surge.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division ("Fraud Division"). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

An indictment, information, or complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.