Identity Theft and IRS Fraud at Colleges (So Fla Bus Journal)

18 Miami-Dade College students charged with stealing classmates’ identities
Nov 18, 2014, 12:40pm EST Updated Nov 18, 2014, 3:12pm EST

Brian Bandell
Senior Reporter
South Florida Business Journal

Eighteen students at Miami-Dade College were among 21 people charged with stealing the identities of students there to commit $1.9 million in tax refund fraud.
Federal authorities arrested 17 of the defendants on Tuesday, including 14 of the MDC students. More than 644 students at MDC were victimized, according to the complaints.

This brings an epidemic to new proportions. Florida has the highest rate of identity theft in the nation, and Miami has the most complaints by victims, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

"Today's takedown is further evidence of the insidious and widespread nature of stolen identity tax refund fraud," U.S. Attorney General for the Southern District of Florida Wifredo Ferrer said in a news release. "That this crime has infiltrated life at a college is alarming. As a community, we cannot permit this type of crime to negatively affect young people and their prospects while in college."
According to the complaints, most of the defendants ran the scheme through bank accounts with Higher One, a company that provides financial services to college and university students. Multiple fraudulent tax refunds were deposited into Higher One accounts. Some defendants also used these accounts to collect fraudulent social security checks.
Over 1,000 Higher One accounts were implicated in the investigation.

"Those arrested today were part of a Miami-based group who systematically hacked into numerous businesses and government institutions," George L. Piro, the FBI special agent in charge of Miami, said. " Once inside, they stole personally identifiable information from unsuspecting victims to unlawfully file tax returns and redirect Social Security payments."
The defendants are Gary Antoine, Emmanuel Avrilien, Gerrey Cherrelus, Sandy Jean-Louis, Marie Joseph, Andy Lamour, Tamica Smith, Marvin Dubuisson, Ronald Dumond, Bianca Noel, Erving Jaques Etienne, Mitsie Faustin, Caleb Fadet, Laquisa Q. Johnson, Beethoven Nelson, Farah Norelus, Smith Jean, Beatrice Simeon, Glasner Simplice, and Rutherford Willy.
Officials at Miami-Dade College said they were working closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office to resolve the matter.

"The actions of these individuals are in no way a reflection of the vast majority of the hardworking, honest students at Miami Dade College, looking to improve their lives and their families'," Miami-Dade College stated. "In fact, the situation was reportedly orchestrated by individuals not connected to the college, taking advantage of often vulnerable students. It's also important to note that what has reportedly transpired is not a result of a lack of vigilance and proactiveness on the part of the college."