Three men, including two Nigerians—Imafedia Adevokhai and Osazuwa Peter Okunoghae—have been sentenced to federal prison in the United States for their involvement in a tax refund fraud scheme. The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, Abe McGlothin Jr., in a statement released on Sunday, April 6.
Imafedia Adevokhai, 47, from Alpharetta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to money laundering on February 15, 2023. He was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison on April 2, 2025, by U.S. District Judge Robert W. Schroeder III. Adevokhai was also ordered to pay $90,380.60 in restitution and $3,500 in forfeiture.
Michael Martin, 52, from Texarkana, Texas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy on February 14, 2023, and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison on November 21, 2023. He was ordered to pay $90,380.60 in restitution and $121,623.41 in forfeiture.
Osazuwa Peter Okunoghae, 46, from Houston, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy on November 12, 2019. He was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison by Judge Schroeder on January 13, 2022. Okunoghae was ordered to pay $451,117.63 in restitution and an equal amount in forfeiture.
Acting U.S. Attorney McGlothin commented, “The Eastern District of Texas is committed to prosecuting individuals who participate in schemes to steal personal information, file fraudulent tax returns, and launder the proceeds. These crimes affect victims whose identities are stolen, taxpayers who bear the financial burden, and financial institutions manipulated to launder the stolen funds.”
Christopher J. Altemus Jr., special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, added, “Adevokhai, Martin, and Okunoghae, along with others, created a complex scheme to steal the tax refunds of law-abiding U.S. taxpayers through stolen identity refund fraud. The IRS-CI did an outstanding job in uncovering this fraudulent activity and bringing those responsible to justice. Their sentences should serve as a warning to anyone attempting to defraud the U.S. Government or exploit taxpayers.”
Court documents revealed that Adevokhai, Martin, Okunoghae, and others were part of a multi-year conspiracy involving stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF). The scheme saw the theft of personal information from victims, which was then used to file fraudulent tax returns. These fraudulent claims resulted in $4,945,886 in tax refunds, causing a loss of at least $390,220.40 to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Adevokhai was involved in preparing and filing many of the fraudulent returns, while Okunoghae and Martin played key roles in laundering the stolen funds. The investigation traced the funds through U.S. and foreign financial accounts, connecting the individuals to dozens of victims whose taxpayer identities were stolen.
In January 2019, individuals from three states and Nigeria were charged for their involvement in the conspiracy. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division prioritizes prosecuting individuals who use stolen identities to steal money from the Treasury by filing fraudulent tax returns, which have caused significant losses to the U.S. government.
The case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld and Sean Taylor.