MILWAUKEE -- A federal grand jury in Milwaukee returned an indictment on Tuesday, June 9th charging three people with 13 counts each of wire, mail and credit card fraud. The accused are 50-year-old Vladimir Sonin of Bayside, 47-year-old Natalya Sonina of Bayside, and 47-year-old Irina Tinney of Milwaukee.
The indictment alleges that from approximately January 1, 2013 until May 13, 2015, the defendants carried out a scheme to defraud and steal money from the IRS and various state treasuries through electronically filed fraudulent tax returns claiming tax refunds in the names of identity theft victims.
The indictment further charges that as part of the scheme, the defendants received unauthorized access devices issued by financial institutions in the names of identity theft victims and then caused the IRS and various state treasuries to electronically place stolen refunds onto those unauthorized access devices.
Finally, the indictment charges that as part of the scheme, the defendants used the unauthorized access devices at ATMs and then transferred more than $1 million in scheme proceeds to individuals in Ukraine.
Each of the ten mail or wire fraud charges contained in the indictment carries a maximum possible penalty of up to twenty years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Each of the four credit card fraud charges contained in the indictment carries a maximum possible penalty of up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Each of the two aggravated identity theft charges contained in the indictment carries a maximum possible penalty of a mandatory two years in prison consecutive to any other sentence and a fine of up to $250,000 or both.