Thomas Addaquay, an Atlanta resident, has been sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison following his conviction on 30 felony counts related to nationwide fraud schemes. These included tax refund fraud, business email compromise, and romance scams.
“Addaquay’s fraud schemes impacted numerous victims across the country and resulted in millions in losses to the IRS and private citizens,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr. He highlighted the joint efforts of federal and local law enforcement that led to Addaquay's prosecution.
Demetrius Hardeman, Special Agent in Charge at IRS Criminal Investigation's Atlanta Field Office, commented on the emotional and financial harm caused by Addaquay's actions. “IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to bringing to justice those who victimize others through fraudulent financial schemes,” he said.
Frederick D. Houston of the United States Secret Service emphasized the broader implications of such scams. “Scammers like Addaquay enrich themselves by preying on innocent people with no care for the lasting damage they cause," he remarked.
The court heard that Addaquay was found guilty of various offenses including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering conspiracy, and money laundering. His illegal activities involved using stolen identities for filing fraudulent tax returns from 2011 to 2016, resulting in over $4 million lost to the IRS.
Additionally, Addaquay engaged in business email compromise and romance scams using false identities and hacked emails to divert funds into bank accounts. Victims lost over $3 million due to these scams.
Alongside his prison sentence, Thomas Addaquay was ordered to pay more than $7 million in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release post-imprisonment.
The investigations were conducted by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the United States Secret Service with assistance from Cobb County Sheriff’s Office. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Sekret T. Sneed and Angela Adams.
For further details, contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6280.