By: Najla Alexander
NJ authorities announced that an Arizona man was sentenced to 49 months in prison for conspiring to obtain over $4.4 million by defrauding the IRS.
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger stated Walid Khater, 38, of Mesa, Arizona, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS.
Walid Khater’s conspirator, Omar Khater, 33, of Fairfield, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to the same charges and was sentenced on June 12, 2024, to 57 months in prison, Attorney officials stated.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Officials say Walid and Omar Khater were relatives who worked together and with others to steal victims’ identities, which they used to file false tax returns and fraudulently receive tax refunds from the IRS.
They electronically submitted tax documents to the IRS falsely claiming that the individual taxpayers listed on those documents had earned certain income or won thousands – and in some cases millions – of dollars in gambling and lottery winnings, according to NJ officials.
Philip R. Sellinger said the false filings also claimed tax withholdings on the purported income or gambling winnings that entitled the tax filer to refund payments from the IRS.
The Khaters and others typically submitted these fraudulent tax filings using the names and personal identifying information of individual taxpayers without their knowledge or permission, Attorney officials said.
NJ authorities say the fraudulent filings caused the IRS to pay lucrative tax refunds totaling $4.49 million, which the Khaters and others directed to various bank accounts they controlled.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Martinotti sentenced Walid Khater to three years of supervised release and ordered restitution of $4.49 million, stated Philip R. Sellinger.