Used stolen identities to file thousands of fraudulent tax returns Date: May 5, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a conspiracy to use stolen identities to file thousands of fraudulent tax returns and send much of the illegal proceeds to his co-conspirators in Russia. Stanuslav Lukyantsev, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Kyrgyzstan, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud from January 1, 2015, to March 1, 2018. By pleading guilty today, Lukyantsev admitted that his co-conspirators filed fraudulent federal income tax returns using stolen identities. The tax returns claimed fraudulent refunds, which were deposited into accounts controlled by the conspirators at several banks in the United States. After fraudulent refunds were deposited into their accounts, conspirators went to ATMs and withdrew the proceeds of their fraudulent scheme in cash. They deposited the cash into other bank accounts and wire transferred much of the proceeds to Russia. Lukyantsev maintained accounts at three different banks for this purpose. Conspirators filed 7,167 false and fraudulent tax returns for the tax years 2011 to 2016. The returns claimed $11,178,361 in fraudulent refunds. The Internal Revenue Service paid at least $2,020,569 in fraudulent tax refunds, of which conspirators wire transferred at least $1,411,082 to bank accounts in Russia. By pleading guilty today, Lukyantsev admitted that he obtained $10,000 from the proceeds of the fraud scheme, which must be forfeited to the government. Under federal statutes, Lukyantsev is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen D. Mahoney and Mary Kate Butterfield. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
