Miami Resident Sentenced For Identity Theft Schemes Involving Fraudulent Social Security Benefits And Income Tax Refunds After Initially Failing To Appear

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Thomas Caul, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of Inspector General (OIG), and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that Emmanuel A. Adeife, of Miami, was sentenced today to 76 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution of $321,213.70‎.

Adeife previously pled guilty today to one count of access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(2), one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A, and one count of failure to appear, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 3146(a)(1) and 3146(b)(1)(A)(ii).

According to court documents, from January to October 2013, Adeife filed approximately 112 Social Security Retirement Income Benefit (RIB) claims using names, dates of births, and social security numbers belonging to real people without their permission. Adeife directed that the RIB payments be paid onto prepaid debit cards in his control from which he made ATM withdrawals and conducted other transactions. He received RIB payments totaling $194,213.70 in connection with 45 of the claims.

On October 18, 2013, the grand jury returned an Indictment charging Adeife with access device fraud and aggravated identity theft (Case No. 13-20803-CR-Zloch), and Adeife was granted a bond. The Court later set a change of plea hearing for March 6, 2014 in this case, but Adeife knowingly failed to appear at the hearing, despite his attendance being required as a condition of his previous release. Adeife remained a fugitive until his second arrest on June 20, 2014.

After Adeife’s failure to appear, the law enforcement investigation into Adeife’s whereabouts revealed that he continued on the same conduct involving stolen identity fraud. Law enforcement analysis of the debit cards associated with Adeife revealed that Adeife, while on bond, filed stolen identity tax returns seeking approximately $198,000 in fraudulent refunds, of which he actually received approximately $127,000.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of SSA-OIG and IRS-CI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank R. Maderal.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.