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Vermont man sentenced to prison for bank, wire, and tax fraud

BURLINGTON, Vt. - An Essex Junction, Vt., man was sentenced to jail for bank, wire and tax fraud after an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Ahmad Kanan, 37, was sentenced yesterday to 37 months in prison for his crimes. Additionally, he was ordered to pay restitution of approximately $213,000.

According to court records, Kanan used the stolen identities of approximately 37 victims to file fraudulent tax returns with the IRS as well as a number of state tax agencies. He prepared the returns with false W-2 statements and structured the returns to provide for refunds. The refunds were then electronically deposited into accounts that Kanan controlled and into the accounts of family members and a family business. Tax refund checks were also sent to various addresses, as directed and controlled by Kanan.

Kanan also opened various credit card accounts as well as bank accounts in the names of third parties whose identities he stole. He obtained cash advances on the credit cards and deposited that cash into various bank accounts he maintained at local banks as well as various on-line banking institutions. Kanan was also involved in other schemes using stolen identities. He manufactured checks on his home computer using stolen routing numbers and account numbers. He then deposited those checks into the bank accounts he controlled. Using other stolen routing and account numbers, he arranged for electronic withdrawals from a victim's account to pay his credit card accounts.

Kanan was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 3, 2007, and was arraigned in federal court on May 7, 2007. He pled guilty to a superseding information on Nov. 20, 2007.

Acting U.S. Attorney for Vermont Paul J. Van De Graaf commended the efforts of ICE, the IRS, the Secret Service as well as the Essex Junction Police Department.

The case was prosecuted by former U.S. Attorney Thomas D. Anderson and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy J. Creswell.