The Justice Department is revoking the citizenship of a man who operated a huge tax-fraud scheme, the government says.
The DOJ filed its case on Wednesday to revoke the U.S. citizenship of Nigerian National Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem for a conspiracy to steal the identities of U.S. citizens and filing false tax returns in 2017, the department said in a press release.
The filing comes after Kazeem was convicted of 19 counts of mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, however, in 2024, President Biden had commuted the convict’s sentence.
Despite Biden’s act, the Trump administration says it is not prepared to ignore Kazeem’s convictions.
“The Trump Administration will not permit wrongdoers to retain the U.S. citizenship that they were never entitled to in the first place,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in the press release. “U.S. Citizenship is a privilege, and we will continue to ask courts to revoke a status that was obtained through fraud and deceit.”
Kazeem reportedly committed his crimes both before and after he received his naturalization. The administration also claims that Kazeem had also engaged in a sham marriage to obtain legal resident status, and that he later married a second woman, which disqualifies him from naturalization, officials said.
An IRS investigation leading to his conviction in 2013 found that he had filed false federal and Oregon tax returns.
The IRS also raided properties in Illinois, Maryland, and Georgia, and uncovered a long paper and electronic trail and the seizure of 150 prepaid debit cards and $50,000 in money orders.
The press release added, “In Maryland and Georgia, agents seized more than 50 electronic devices, 40 money orders in amounts exceeding $29,000, $14,000 in cash and numerous prepaid debit cards containing over $12,000 in fraudulent tax refunds.”
Kazeem was convicted of stealing the identities of more than 260,000 Americans, and he had purchased the information of another 91,000 victims ,all of which he shared with co-conspiretors, including his brother, Michael Oluwasegun Kazeem.
Kazeem was linked to 10,139 fake federal tax returns seeking to steal more than $91 million dollars in refunds and successfully received over $11.6 million dollars.
The migrant had used the ill-gotten funds to put $200,000 down payment on a newly constructed house and to purchase a $175,000 townhouse, both in Maryland. His average monthly credit card payment during 2012 to 2015 was over $8,300. Kazeem also attempted to use his stolen money to develop a $6 million dollar, 4-star hotel in Lagos, Nigeria.
Kazeem was sentenced to 15 years in prison on June 20, 2018. He was also ordered to pay more than $12 million in restitution before Biden commuted his sentence in December of 2024 as he prepared to leave office.
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