Miami Man Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Identity Theft and Social Security Fraud Schemes

From the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida:

Kevin Cimeus, 21, of Miami, was sentenced before Judge William J. Zloch to 156 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, announced Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Donnell Young, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Thomas Caul, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of Inspector General.

On June 20, 2014, Cimeus was convicted after a four-day jury trial in Fort Lauderdale for his roles in identity theft tax fraud and Social Security schemes. Specifically, Cimeus was convicted of 10 counts in the superseding indictment, including one count of conspiracy to steal government property or money, three counts of theft of government money or property, one count of access device theft, and five counts of aggravated identity theft.

According to records filed in this case and statements made in court, federal agents found over 2,400 Social Security numbers and names of real people stored on thumb drives, laptop computers, iPads, and Cimeus’ email account at Cimeus’ residence. The evidence at the trial also showed that Cimeus recruited Miami Dade College (MDC) students to allow the defendant to use their Higher One Bank accounts to receive fraudulently obtained tax refunds and that Cimeus used his own Higher One Bank and Chase accounts to receive fraudulently obtained tax refunds. Cimeus filed at least 1,000 tax returns from two IP addresses. He also used the two IP addresses to access SSA's website and create online profiles for Social Security recipients in order to re-route the victims’ Social Security payments to other accounts.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of FBI, IRS-CI, and the SSA. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gera R. Peoples and Cynthia Wood.

From the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida:

Kevin Cimeus, 21, of Miami, was sentenced before Judge William J. Zloch to 156 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, announced Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Donnell Young, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Thomas Caul, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of Inspector General.

On June 20, 2014, Cimeus was convicted after a four-day jury trial in Fort Lauderdale for his roles in identity theft tax fraud and Social Security schemes. Specifically, Cimeus was convicted of 10 counts in the superseding indictment, including one count of conspiracy to steal government property or money, three counts of theft of government money or property, one count of access device theft, and five counts of aggravated identity theft.

According to records filed in this case and statements made in court, federal agents found over 2,400 Social Security numbers and names of real people stored on thumb drives, laptop computers, iPads, and Cimeus’ email account at Cimeus’ residence. The evidence at the trial also showed that Cimeus recruited Miami Dade College (MDC) students to allow the defendant to use their Higher One Bank accounts to receive fraudulently obtained tax refunds and that Cimeus used his own Higher One Bank and Chase accounts to receive fraudulently obtained tax refunds. Cimeus filed at least 1,000 tax returns from two IP addresses. He also used the two IP addresses to access SSA's website and create online profiles for Social Security recipients in order to re-route the victims’ Social Security payments to other accounts.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of FBI, IRS-CI, and the SSA. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gera R. Peoples and Cynthia Wood.