Prison Term For 2 New Jersey Men Convicted In Tax Fraud Case
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Two New Jersey men have been sentenced to federal prison for conspiring to file thousands of fraudulent federal income tax returns that caused the Internal Revenue Service to issue more than $3 million in refund checks.
Forty-five-year-old Johnson Coker of Old Bridge and 40-year-old Adebowale Sheba of Somerset were sentenced Monday to 70 and 72 months, respectively, in federal prison.
Prosecutors say they and several co-conspirators used personal information of hundreds of identity theft victims to create false income tax returns and generate refund checks. The checks were deposited into two dozen bank accounts the conspirators controlled.
At Monday's sentencing in Trenton, Coker was ordered to pay more than $976,000 in restitution. Sheba was ordered to pay more than $609,000.
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