Tax Fraud

January 5, 2016

A resident of Bowie, Maryland, pleaded guilty to federal charges for his involvement in a far-reaching identity theft and tax fraud scheme in which he assisted in the filing of fraudulent federal income tax returns seeking more than $4.4 million in refunds. The false tax returns sought refunds for tax years 2005 through 2013 and were often filed in the names of people whose identities had been stolen, including the elderly, people in assisted living facilities, drug addicts and incarcerated prisoners. DOJ

January 4, 2016

According to court documents and testimony at trial, Kevin Cyster, 52, of Burlington, Ontario, was part of a group of Canadian citizens that filed tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service that contained fraudulent Forms 1099-OID. On these tax returns, Cyster and his co-conspirators falsely claimed that nearly $10 million in federal income taxes had been withheld on their behalf by various Canadian financial institutions and paid over to the IRS. DOJ