US SEEKS TO REVOKE CITIZENSHIP OF NIGERIAN OVER $91M TAX FRAUD SCHEME

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Agency Report

The United States Department of Justice has filed a civil complaint to revoke the citizenship of a Nigerian national, Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, over his alleged role in a massive identity theft and tax fraud scheme.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Department said Kazeem orchestrated a large-scale operation that targeted more than 259,000 victims and attempted to defraud the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of over $91 million.

The complaint, filed at the US District Court in Baltimore, Maryland, argues that Kazeem fraudulently obtained his American citizenship by concealing his criminal activities.

Kazeem was previously convicted in 2017 on 19 counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but served only six years before his sentence was commuted in December 2024 by then-President Joe Biden, alongside nearly 1,500 other inmates released under COVID-19-related measures.

According to the Department of Justice, Kazeem’s actions, both before and after his naturalisation, rendered him ineligible for US citizenship. The complaint also alleges that he entered into a sham marriage to obtain permanent residency before marrying another woman, an act that independently disqualified him from naturalisation.

Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division said the government is committed to ensuring that citizenship obtained through fraudulent means is revoked.

“The administration will not permit wrongdoers to retain U.S. citizenship that they were never entitled to. Citizenship is a privilege, and we will continue to ask courts to revoke status obtained through fraud and deceit,” he said.

Investigations into the scheme began in May 2013 after a victim in Medford, Oregon, reported that fraudulent federal and state tax returns had been filed using her personal information. Subsequent inquiries led authorities to properties in Illinois, Maryland, and Georgia, where agents executed search warrants.

Officials reported seizing large quantities of evidence, including prepaid debit cards, tens of thousands of dollars in cash and money orders, and numerous electronic devices linked to the operation.

Authorities identified Kazeem as the leader of the scheme, which involved purchasing over 91,000 stolen identities from a Vietnamese hacker who had accessed a private company database used for background checks.

Kazeem reportedly distributed the stolen data among co-conspirators, including his younger brother, and trained them to bypass IRS security systems by obtaining electronic filing PINs. The group acquired more than 19,500 such PINs and gained unauthorised access to thousands of taxpayer accounts.

In total, Kazeem was linked to over 10,000 fraudulent tax filings seeking more than $91 million in refunds, with approximately $11.6 million successfully obtained.

The Department also disclosed that at least 2,000 wire transfers totalling over $2.1 million were sent to Nigeria, with more than 700 transfers directly connected to Kazeem.

Proceeds from the fraud were allegedly used to fund luxury purchases, including real estate in Maryland, and to support a proposed $6 million hotel development project in Lagos.

On the eve of his arrest in May 2015, Kazeem reportedly transferred ownership of a townhouse to his sister in Nigeria for a nominal fee and added her to the deed of another property under similar terms.

He was formally sentenced on June 20, 2018, and ordered to pay more than $12 million in restitution.

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.