Two Philly men sentenced for tax ID theft

Two Philadelphia men pleaded guilty to conspiring to file federal tax returns using stolen IDs, federal authorities said on Monday.

Acting deputy assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division and acting U.S. Attorney Louis D. Lappen for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said Moise Olivier, 27, and Hans Pierre, 28, opened bank accounts in the names of "Moise Olivier Tax Service" and "Hans Pierre Tax Service" even though neither had a tax service. Using stolen personal ID information, they electronically filed returns seeking fraudulent refunds and directed those refunds be deposited by the IRS into the Moise Olivier and Hans Pierre Tax Service bank accounts. Olivier and Pierre withdrew cash from the accounts to provide to other co-conspirators. Olivier admitted to causing a tax loss of $181,805.10. Pierre admitted to causing a tax loss of $95,157.41.

Olivier is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2, and Pierre, who pleaded guilty on Feb. 8, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 27, before U.S. District Court Judge John R. Padova.