US DOJ Seeks to Revoke Citizenship of Nigerian in $91M Tax Fraud Scheme
The US Department of Justice has filed a civil complaint to strip Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem of his American citizenship. He is accused of leading an identity-theft and tax-fraud ring that targeted over 259,000 victims and attempted to steal more than $91 million from the IRS. Court papers filed in Baltimore, Maryland, allege Kazeem obtained naturalization through fraud and concealment. He was convicted in 2017 on counts of mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy. Biden later commuted his 15-year sentence after six years in prison. According to the complaint, Kazeem bought 91,000 stolen identities and trained co-conspirators— including his brother—to file thousands of false tax returns. Authorities say more than $11.6 million was paid out before the scheme was uncovered with raids in Illinois, Maryland, and Georgia. The DOJ claims Kazeem’s crimes before and after naturalization, as well as a sham marriage to secure residency, disqualified him from citizenship. It vows to ask courts to revoke any status obtained by deceit.
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