Hacking, tax fraud actors charged by U.S.

SecurityWeek reports that the U.S. Justice Department has announced that eight individuals -- Andi Jacques, Louis Noel Michel, Vladimyr Cherelus, Jeff Jordan Propht-Francisque, Monika Shauntel Jenkins, Dickenson Elan, Michael Jean Poix, and Louisaint Jolteus -- have been charged in relation to their involvement in a RICO conspiracy scheme that included cybercrime and tax fraud. More than 9,000 tax returns have been exfiltrated by the defendants using server credentials for tax preparation and Certified Public Accounting firms purchased from the dark web, exposing taxpayers' names, birthdates, financial details, and Social Security numbers, according to the indictment. Fraudulent claims have also been filed by the defendants, with the false tax returns filed using Internal Revenue Service-issued identification numbers of the tax firms, the indictment alleged. False tax refunds claimed by the defendants have allegedly reached more than $36 million, while actual losses are estimated to have exceeded $4 million. Imprisonment of up to 20 years may be faced by the defendants, with Jacques, Poix, Jenkins, and Michel potentially being sentenced to a maximum of 20 years imprisonment and consecutive two years' imprisonment for fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges.