MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Keith Joseph, of Miami, Florida, was indicted on multiple counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Joseph, age 37, was indicted on six counts of “Wire Fraud” and six counts of “Aggravated Identity Theft.” Joseph is accused of fraudulently accessing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) eAuthentication online taxpayer system, which has servers located in Berkeley County, from March 2015 to March 2017. Joseph allegedly obtained personal identifying information of taxpayers without their knowledge to gain access to the IRS online taxpayer system. Once he had access, Joseph unlawfully obtained income tax transcripts and fraudulently filed tax returns using the taxpayers’ personal identifying information. The total amount claimed by the fraudulent returns in the scheme was at least $152,948.00.
Joseph faces up to 20 years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the wire fraud counts and two years incarceration for each of the aggravated identity theft counts. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn M. Adkins is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Cybercrime Investigations Division investigated.
An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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