An Irvington man was sentenced Tuesday to 57 months in prison for using stolen identities to file false tax returns and obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax refund checks, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Hakeem Awe, 40, of Irvington, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares to two counts of an indictment charging him with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. Judge Linares imposed the sentence yesterday in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Awe used stolen names, Social Security numbers, and other personally identifying information to file false tax returns, using fictitious financial information to make it appear that the filer was entitled to a tax refund. Awe also listed the filer’s address as one of several post office boxes that he controlled in and around New Jersey. He received the checks at his post office boxes and then deposited them into bank accounts that he controlled.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Linares sentenced Awe to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $1,242,047.