Atlanta Man Sentenced to Over 12 Years for Fraud Involving Tax Refunds and Romance Scams

Thomas Addaquay, 50, of Atlanta, Georgia, has been sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison following his conviction on 30 felonies related to two nationwide fraud schemes. These schemes involved stolen identity tax refunds, business email compromise, and romance fraud scams, leading to millions in financial losses for both the IRS and private citizens.

Acting U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr. stated, “Addaquay’s fraud schemes impacted numerous victims across the country and resulted in millions in losses to the IRS and private citizens.” Moultrie praised the efforts of federal and local law enforcement partners in securing Addaquay’s prosecution, which led to justice for innocent taxpayers affected by his actions.

Addaquay was convicted of 29 counts of fraud-related offenses, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering conspiracy, and wire fraud. Between 2011 and 2016, Addaquay executed a stolen identity tax refund fraud scheme, using stolen personal information such as names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth to file fraudulent federal income tax returns. This resulted in the issuance of thousands of tax refund checks, causing a loss to the IRS of over $4 million.

In addition to the tax refund fraud, Addaquay participated in business email compromise and romance scams. These schemes involved false identities and hacked email accounts to defraud victims into diverting funds into bank accounts under his control. Victims across the nation lost more than $3 million in total due to his actions. Addaquay also pleaded guilty to structuring the proceeds from these fraudulent activities.

Along with his sentence of 12 years and six months in prison, Addaquay was ordered to pay over $7 million in restitution. After serving his time, he will be placed under three years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the United States Secret Service, and the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sekret T. Sneed and Angela Adams.