US seeks to revoke citizenship of Nigerian convict in $91m Tax fraud case
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil complaint to strip Nigerian national, Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, of his American citizenship over his involvement in a massive identity theft and tax fraud scheme.
In a statement released on Thursday, the DOJ alleged that Kazeem masterminded a sophisticated operation that targeted more than 259,000 victims and attempted to defraud the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of over $91 million.
The complaint, lodged on Wednesday at a US District Court in Baltimore, Maryland, argues that Kazeem fraudulently obtained his citizenship by concealing his criminal activities.
Kazeem was convicted in 2017 on 19 counts, including mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
However, he served only six years before then-President Joe Biden commuted his sentence in December 2024, alongside nearly 1,500 others who had been placed under house arrest after early releases during the COVID-19 pandemic.
DOJ Civil Division Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate stated that the US government is committed to revoking citizenship obtained through deception.
“The Trump administration will not permit wrongdoers to retain US citizenship they were never entitled to. Citizenship is a privilege, and we will continue to pursue its revocation where it was secured through fraud,” he said.
According to the DOJ, Kazeem’s actions before and after his naturalisation made him ineligible for citizenship. The complaint also alleges he entered into a sham marriage to obtain permanent residency before later marrying another woman—an act that independently disqualified him from naturalisation.
The fraud scheme was uncovered in May 2013 after a victim in Medford, Oregon, reported that fraudulent federal and state tax returns had been filed using her family’s personal information.
Subsequent investigations led to coordinated raids across Illinois, Maryland, and Georgia, where authorities recovered large sums of cash, prepaid debit cards, money orders, and dozens of electronic devices linked to the operation.
Investigators identified Kazeem as the leader of the network, which involved purchasing over 91,000 stolen identities from a Vietnamese hacker. These identities were distributed among co-conspirators, including his younger brother, Michael Oluwasegun Kazeem.
The group used the stolen data to bypass IRS security systems, obtaining more than 19,500 electronic filing PINs and filing over 10,000 fraudulent tax returns.
Authorities said the scheme sought more than $91 million in refunds, successfully obtaining over $11.6 million. At least 2,000 wire transfers totaling more than $2.1 million were traced to Nigeria, with over $690,000 directly linked to Kazeem.
Proceeds from the fraud were used to fund luxury purchases, including real estate in Maryland, and were reportedly earmarked for a $6 million hotel project in Lagos.
Kazeem was sentenced in June 2018 and ordered to pay over $12 million in restitution following a joint investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
