Man Pleads Guilty In Naturalization, Tax Refund Scheme
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 41-year-old man has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship and tax refund fraud.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota says Muhammed Fatty, of Little Canada, pleaded guilty Wednesday to unlawful procurement of naturalization and to making false claims on tax refunds.
Citing court documents, the attorney's office says tax investigators became suspicious in 2015 when State Department officials identified a visa applicant using the same name as a person already in the U.S., who had already become a citizen in 2013.
In a guilty plea, Fatty admitted to devising scheme where he prepared and electronically filed a false tax returned using the name and social security number of another person and knowingly made and presented to the IRS a claim for a refund of $9,332.
For nearly a decade, Fatty had used the name and social security number of another person and fraudulently claimed and received tax refunds for a total of $46,109. He also fraudulently obtained medical assistance, receiving almost $8,000 in benefits involving premiums made by the state.
Meanwhile, under his own name, Fatty owed the IRS more than $7,000 in back taxes and fees.