On April 24, 2023, in the Northern District of Georgia, Felix Ochei pled guilty to aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to 48 months of imprisonment followed by one year of supervised release. Ochei was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,030,323.44 and a special assessment fee of $200. In May 2018, and continuing through November 2020, Ochei and conspirators acquired Personally Identifiable Information of other persons through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) eAuthentication system. They used this information to electronically submit numerous fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance benefits to the Georgia Department of Labor and to file fraudulent income tax returns to the IRS. Ochei and conspirators electronically submitted fraudulent tax returns to the IRS which claimed refunds and made false representations to include victims’ electronic signature, income, bank account information, employment, and address.

Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents:  N.D. Ga., Appearance and Compliance Bond, filed October 19, 2021; N.D. Ga., Indict., filed September 29, 2021; N.D. Ga., Judgment, filed April 24, 2023; and N.D. Ga., Sentencing, filed April 24, 2023.