A Nigerian national living in Missouri was sentenced to four years and three months in prison without parole for filing false tax returns and for his part in various Internet scams that defrauded victims.
Segun Prosper Otaru, 27, was ordered to pay $26,056 in restitution and the same amount to the government. He entered the US on a student visa in 2013 but never took any classes. Since arriving in the US, he has worked with an organized crime network, has had 13 aliases and numerous bank accounts with fake identities. Otaru admitted to fraud through various Internet scams. Among them were listings on Craigslist for rental property that Otaru and his co-conspirators did not control. When victims responded they were asked to send a deposit to hold the property.
Otaru also filed as many as 167 false income tax returns that included stolen identities, false employers, wages and employment taxes paid. He and a partner received $24,356 in illegal tax refunds.