A Loganville, Georgia, man made his first appearance in a Jefferson City federal courtroom Tuesday on a grand jury's indictment he had a fraud scheme in which he stole personal identity information from several victims in order to file fraudulent federal income tax returns.
Don Ledford, spokesman for Western District U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson, said Chike Uzodinma Agogbua, 42 - a Nigerian national and a naturalized U.S. citizen - was charged in an eight-count indictment returned on Sept. 28, but wasn't made public until Agogbua's arrest last month in Georgia and his initial court appearance this week.
He was arrested in Georgia in October - Loganville is in north-central Georgia, between Atlanta and Athens.
Dickinson said the grand jury charged Agogbua with stealing the names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth of several victims, then using that information to file federal income tax returns.
Prosecutors said Agogbua also reported false employment, wages earned and taxes withheld in order to obtain refunds for himself.
As a result of the fraud scheme, the IRS wired tax refunds - in the names of other people - to bank accounts under Agogbua's control.
Ledford said Mid-Missourians were among the victims from around the nation, but he wasn't able to identify specific hometowns of the victims.
The federal indictment charged Agogbua with five counts of wire fraud - related to tax refunds sent from the IRS Financial Center in Kansas City to Agogbua's bank account - and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
The news release did not list potential punishments Agogbua could face if he's convicted of the charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI and the IRS-Criminal Investigation.