Man gets 18 months in prison for computer fraud

By Jose Luis Jiménez, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Monday, December 7, 2009 at 6:32 p.m.

SAN DIEGO — A Russian citizen who admitted to conspiring to divert 65 income-tax-refund payments intended for U.S. citizens to his accounts was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday, federal authorities said.

Maxim Maltsev, 23, of Novosibirsk, Russia, pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to defraud the United States regarding claims in federal court in San Diego.

Maltsev, who lived in San Diego from May to September 2006, was arrested in April when he arrived in the United States at Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said.

Maltsev, along with three co-conspirators, set up free, online, tax-return-filing services that were falsely advertised as being affiliated with the Internal Revenue Service, according to court records. When people filed income-tax returns on the site, their bank-account numbers were changed and the refunds were diverted to accounts at four San Diego banks opened by the co-conspirators, according to court records.

The diverted refunds totaled about $105,000. The money was withdrawn by debit and check cards at ATMs in the United States and overseas, authorities said.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009 ... ter-fraud/