Three men are now in federal prison for taking part in a large and complex tax fraud scheme that stole money from the U.S. government—and from everyday taxpayers like you and me. Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr. shared the news, calling out the seriousness of the crime and how it impacts all Americans.
These men—Imafedia Adevokhai, Michael Martin, and Osazuwa Peter Okunoghae—helped run a scam that tricked the IRS into sending tax refunds to the wrong people. How? By stealing personal information from innocent taxpayers and using it to file fake tax returns.
In total, the scam tried to claim nearly $5 million in tax refunds. While not all of that money was successfully stolen, the U.S. government still lost over $390,000 because of their actions. These losses came from money meant to help fund public services like schools, roads, and emergency services.
How They Did It: A Sneaky Plan That Crossed Borders
The crime was part of something called a Stolen Identity Refund Fraud, or SIRF. This means the criminals took personal information—like names, birthdates, and Social Security numbers—of real people and used that to pretend to be them when filing fake tax returns.
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Imafedia Adevokhai, who lived in Alpharetta, Georgia, was deeply involved in filing many of these fake tax returns. He pleaded guilty to money laundering in February 2023. On April 2, 2025, he was sentenced to 46 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Robert W. Schroeder, III. Along with prison time, Adevokhai must pay back $90,380.60 in restitution and an additional $3,500 in forfeiture.
Michael Martin, from Texarkana, Texas, played a big part in helping to hide where the stolen money came from. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy in February 2023. On November 21, 2023, he was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. He was ordered to return $90,380.60 and give up $121,623.41 in illegally obtained funds.
Osazuwa Peter Okunoghae, who lived in Houston, was also involved in hiding the stolen money. He admitted to being part of a money laundering conspiracy in 2019. On January 13, 2022, Judge Schroeder sentenced him to 78 months in prison. Okunoghae must repay $451,117.63, and he must also forfeit that same amount.
Together, these men moved the stolen money through several U.S. bank accounts and then transferred the funds to foreign accounts, some of which were in Nigeria. This helped cover up the crime and made it harder for law enforcement to track the money.
A Warning From Authorities and a Job Well Done
U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr. made it clear that crimes like these don’t just affect a few people. They hurt all of us. “These crimes impact victims whose identities are stolen, taxpayers who are left with the bill, and financial institutions that are misused to hide the money,” he said.
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Christopher J. Altemus Jr., the special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) in Dallas, added that the men behind this scam worked together in a complex plan. He praised the IRS-CI team, saying, “The women and men of IRS-CI did an outstanding job of uncovering this fraudulent activity and bringing the individuals to justice.”
According to the court records, the scheme didn’t only involve people in the United States. In fact, individuals from three states and some people in Nigeria were also charged for helping with the plan back in January 2019.
The Department of Justice says stopping these types of crimes is one of its top priorities. These SIRF schemes, as they’re called, disrupt the tax system and cost the government billions of dollars. That’s money that could have gone to important programs that help citizens every day.
The investigation was handled by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld and Sean Taylor.
This case shows just how serious and far-reaching tax fraud can be—and how determined federal agents are to stop it.
