A former Orange County, Calif.-based tax preparer has been found guilty of a multi-year tax fraud conspiracy. A jury found Stephen Jake McGonigle, 66, of Victorville, Calif., in the case that spanned three continents.He was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
McGonigle was found to have recruited others, including two-co-defendants who had already pleaded guilty,but not yet been sentenced, in a scheme that began in 2013.
He sent one o-defendant to Thailand to obtain ID documents that utilized the stolen identifies of victims. He then directed a co-conspirator to use the fake IDs to obtain prepaid debit cards, as well as numerous commercial mailboxes across Orange County and elsewhere.
The debit cards were sent to the mailboxes with McGonigle and his conspirators filing fraudulent tax returns using identity the theft victims’ Social Security numbers with the refunds to be deposited in the debit cards or bank accounts the group controlled
IP addresses used to file fraudulent returns were traced back to office spaces leased by McGonigle and to Costa Rica, where law enforcement surveillance and travel records showed that McGonigle and his co-conspirators opened an office and hired employees to help file additional fraudulent returns.
