eCrimeBytes Nibble #5: You Had Me At ”Boo #Boo”

Full Episode: https://youtu.be/Vri9peHUcuw 

Ever wonder where stolen identities come from and what happens with them? Stick around to hear how over thirty conspirators stole thousands of identities to make over $9 million dollars of the $22million they tried for.

 

Welcome to eCrimeBytes Nibble #5!

 

I had to read this case when the ring leader was named "Boo Boo". William Anthony Gosha III, aka "Boo Boo", was the ring leader of a multi million dollar stolen identity tax refund scheme. With his co-conspirators, Boo Boo filed over 8,800 tax returns claiming over $22m in fraudulent refunds. The IRS paid out approximately $9m.

Stolen identities came from many sources. Data came from conspirator insiders at:

- Alabama Dept of Corrections Inmate Info

- Commercial Companies

- Alabama Dept of Public Health

- Alabama Dept of Human Resources

- Ft Benning Hospital, so data for military personnel, including soldiers deployed to Afghanistan

Conspirators opened sham tax preparation businesses with IRS EFINs to file returns. They also received blank check stock. When financial institutions stopped the group's ability to print checks, the group bribed several postal employees to intercept fraudulent tax refund checks to various addresses. Mind blowing!

A mother of a young U.S. Army soldier who was an identity theft victim described the consequences of the fraud on her and her family, stating:

While [my son] was fighting for our country and all back home, I received a very disturbing phone call from [an] Agent from the IRS that my son, while at Ft. Benning training to defend our country, the land of the free, had his identity stolen and fraudulent tax returns were filed with his social security number. This news was devastating to think that my 19-year-old son, who was defending the very freedom this country stands [for], was wronged by one of those people [he] was willing to die for. My whole family could not believe what was happening. We now had to worry about this terrible act by one of our own. As I tried my best to keep composed and handle all of the gruesome mounds of paperwork to get this straightened out with the IRS, [my son] was then denied his tax refund [as result of this scheme]. This created a financial hardship on [him]. We were too afraid to tell [him] while he was deployed because we did not want to worry him and we wanted him to focus only on getting home alive and not have to worry about such an atrocious act by someone who did not even know [him].

Boo Boo was sentenced to 30 years while his conspirators were sentenced to a 15 year prison range.

Further Reading: https://drkeithjones.com/index.php/2023/04/09/anthony-boo-boo-gosha-and-thirty-conspirators-sentenced-for-multi-million-dollar-stolen-identity-tax-refund-fraud-scheme/