Man, 42, Gets 15 Years For Elaborate Fraud & Identity Theft Conspiracy
MINNNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 42-year-old man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for "orchestrating an identity theft, check, and tax fraud scheme that spanned more than 10 years", the United States Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.
According to his guilty plea and court documents, Christopher Lindsey coordinated an elaborate fraud and identity theft scheme between October 2002 and December 2013. Lindsey and his co-conspirators attempted to steal more than $1 million by obtaining legitimate bank account information, bank routing and account numbers, check numbers, signatures, and other private financial information.
"Lindsey is responsible for compromising the bank accounts of thousands of victims," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lola A. Velazquez-Aguilu said. "He enlisted countless individuals into his schemes to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from banks and from taxpayers. The money he stole may never be repaid, but the 15-year sentence brings some measure of justice to those people whose lives he impacted."
Lindsey also simultaneously led a conspiracy to submit false tax returns to the IRS and directed the filing of at least 40 fraudulent claims resulting in losses of more than $270,000.