Marietta Residents Arrested in Identity Theft Ring Bust

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Three Marietta residents have been arrested in connection to the disruption of a complex and lucrative identity theft ring which victimized Oregon residents, the FBI says.

Oluwatobi Rueben Dehinbo, 30; Oluwaseunara Temitope Osanyinbi, 34; and Oluwamuyiwa Abolad Olawoye, 28 have been charged with with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud; seven counts of mail fraud; six counts of wire fraud; and thirteen counts of aggravated identity theft, according to the FBI.

If convicted of the aggravated identity theft charges, each of the defendants face a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in federal prison for each count of conviction.

According to the FBI, Dehinbo, Osanyinbi, Olawoye, and a Smyrna man were part of an identity theft ring that filed approximately 980 fraudulent federal and Oregon state tax returns with the personal identification of some 125,000 taxpayers. The government alleges that the co-conspirators were able to secure $2 million in tax refunds from the IRS, despite claiming $6.6 million in refunds.

The FBI says the conspirators used disposable e-mail addresses to conceal each others’ identities and made sure the fraudulent tax refunds were paid out to prepaid debit cards and third party bank accounts.

“IRS Criminal Investigations Division is sworn to protect the tax system and bring to justice those who would steal from the Treasury. Would-be criminals should know: we’ve made identity theft related refund fraud our top priority,” Assistant Special Agent in Charge Thomas Gutierrez of IRS Criminal Investigation said in a statement.

“We understand that in these types of cases, the government is not the only victim. Identity theft can have a catastrophic emotional and financial impact on its victims. Our agents are determined to keep up the fight to eradicate identity theft and protect the honest taxpayers who would otherwise personally shoulder the immense burden of this crime.”