January 13, 2015

Miami-Dade Resident Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison in Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud Scheme

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), announce thatWisly Toussaint, 36, of Miami, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $317,557 in restitution.

Toussaint was previously convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(b), two counts of access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a), and five counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.

According to evidence presented during the five-day trial, Toussaint possessed and trafficked in personal identifying information (PII), that is names, dates of birth and social security numbers, stolen from a mental health facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In October of 2013, Toussaint was approached by two individuals cooperating with law enforcement and agreed to sell the cooperators the stolen PII, which Toussaint stated he obtained from a partner in Sarasota, Florida. Toussaint later sold the cooperators hundreds of identities stolen from the mental health facility in two separately recorded meetings.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, IRS-CI, and ICE-HSI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank R. Maderal.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.