Yahia Asad Sentenced For Conspiracy To Commit Money Laundering, Conspiracy To Defraud The Government With Respect To Claims, And Aggravated Identity Theft

YAHIA ASAD, age 50, of Tallahassee, Florida, was sentenced yesterday  by Chief United States District Judge Sarah S. Vance to 51 months imprisonment, announced U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente.  Additionally, ASAD was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $379,310.

According to court documents, from January 2010 through March 2012, ASAD and others perpetrated a tax fraud scheme which involved filing false tax returns using the stolen identities of deceased or imprisoned persons, using inflated and erroneous financial information, causing a much larger refund than would be allowed legitimately which resulted in a significant loss to the government. 

"This prosecution serves notice, especially during tax filing season, that we will aggressively prosecute tax fraud and identity theft,” said United States Attorney Boente.  “Mr. Asad stole from the people of the United States and will be punished for that crime.”

“IRS-CI hopes that the sentencing of Yahia Asad serves as a warning to others that IRS and the U.S. Attorney’s Office takes money laundering and identity theft violations very seriously,” stated IRS Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge, Damon Rowe.  “We will continue to work with our law enforcement counterparts to vigorously pursue these investigations.”

“Criminal schemes such as this rob the government of revenue and also shortchange millions of law-abiding Americans who pay their taxes consistently and honestly,” said Raymond R. Parmer Jr., Special Agent in Charge of HSI New Orleans. "Anyone attempting to defraud the government should be on notice that HSI aggressively investigates these types of crimes and will seek prosecution when they’re discovered.” Parmer oversees a five-state area of operation to include Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracey N. Knight.