A Utica man has admitted filing 205 fraudulent tax returns for people then collecting more than $400,000 in refunds from the IRS.
Anas K. Wilson, 32, pleaded guilty this month to aggravated identity theft and theft of government property.
Wilson went to one unemployed woman’s door in 2012 and told her he was an IRS agent, according to an affidavit from IRS Special Agent Pavel Prilutsky. Wilson told the woman she was eligible for federal money under the stimulus package.
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Wilson told the woman that “President Obama was giving out money under a federal stimulus program and that most people had no knowledge about it,” the affidavit said. Wilson then told her he needed her personal information, such as her Social Security number, to get the money, and she gave it to him, the affidavit said.
Wilson had the woman give him names of other unemployed people who might be eligible, the affidavit said.
The fraudulent tax returns Wilson filed resulted in the IRS releasing $414,000 in tax refunds, court papers said.
Wilson directed the tax refunds to a bank account he’d set up, then had other people withdraw the money and give it to him in exchange for a small fee, according to federal prosecutors.
Wilson faces up to 10 years in prison. He’s scheduled to be sentenced April 14 by U.S. District Judge Frederick Scullin.
