Dunwoody Police Arrest Douglasville Man in Alleged IRS/Debit Card Scam

Dunwoody Police have arrested a 26-year-old Douglasville man who allegedly took part in an IRS tax refund scam to withdraw more than $43,000 from a local bank.

According to police, Victor Okorie was arrested last Wednesday at the ATM machine at Fidelity Bank, 135 Perimeter Center W.

Police were contacted by the bank’s corporate security investigator, who said there had been consistent, suspicious withdrawals from that ATM. A man had been coming to the ATM after midnight for three nights and was withdrawing $400 on each transaction from different bank accounts.

Police set up to monitor the ATM and saw Okorie drive up and start making several transactions. He took the cash and dropped the receipts on the ground, police said.

When police approached, they saw several stacks of $20s and several debit cards in the front seat of his vehicle. Okrorie was arrested on one count of felony Theft by Conversion.

He told police he’d been working with someone who provided the debit cards and PIN numbers for each, police said.

It appears, from the initial investigation, that someone established the bank accounts and then electronically filed bogus tax returns. They requested automatic deposit into the bank accounts for the tax returns. Once the returns were deposited, they would withdraw the money, police said.

Police say the refunds look to be substantial, based on the balances left on the debit cards they confiscated. They also found evidence that there was a similar crime at banks in Gwinnett County.

Anyone with information on this activity is asked to contact Det. Robert Bentivegna at 678-382-6911.