Two Atlanta Men Sentenced in Identity Fraud Scheme

ATLANTA, GA – Jeoffrey Jenkins and Vaughn Chambers have been sentenced for their roles in a two-year long tax refund fraud scheme that generated hundreds of false tax returns and sought over $2.8 million in fraudulent tax refunds.

Jenkins and Chambers, both bank employees, stole personally identifying information from bank customers and used that information to open bank accounts to receive the fraudulent tax refunds.

From at least February 2013 until at least March 2014, Jenkins and Chambers opened numerous bank accounts using stolen personally identifying information. Those bank accounts were then listed in over 2,000 fraudulent tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service, with the intention that any tax refund due for the fraudulent tax returns would be deposited into the fraudulently opened bank accounts.

The scheme came to light after a Suntrust Bank investigator told police that Chambers was associated with anomalous banking activity. When confronted by law enforcement, Chambers provided information that implicated Jenkins. And from there, tax filings and bank records unraveled the defendants’ involvement in the scheme.

In total, the bank accounts opened by the two men were set up to receive approximately $2.5 million in fraudulent tax refunds. Out of that amount, approximately $500,000 was actually deposited into the bank accounts by the IRS.

Jenkins was sentenced to a six years, three months in prison, and was ordered to pay $570,034 in restitution. Chambers, who was recruited into the scheme by Jenkins, received two years in prison, and was ordered to pay $9,464 in restitution.