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Published: 2012-04-27 14:49:00
Updated: 2012-04-27 17:02:05

Warrant: Stolen tax files led to ID theft case


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Federal authorities have charged a New Bern man with stealing the identities of dozens of people and filing fraudulent tax returns in their names to obtain refunds, according to a search warrant recently unsealed.

Jeffrey Glenn Toohey, 42, is charged with two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count each of aiding and abetting identity theft, aiding and abetting access device fraud and bank fraud.

Toohey stole more than 400 tax files from a Jackson Hewitt office in New Bern in late 2010 and used the names and Social Security numbers of those people to set up merchant credit accounts to buy goods for himself and a coffee shop he ran in town, the search warrant states.

He and a friend also filed tax returns under numerous names and had refunds wired into bank accounts that Toohey had set up, according to the search warrant. They used public Wi-Fi spots to file the returns to avoid detection.

Searches conducted by federal authorities last July linked Toohey to 35 fake Marine Corps identification badges, 19 counterfeit North Carolina driver's licenses and 15 fake driver's licenses from Florida and Texas, the search warrant states.

The latest search warrant, which was issued March 21, is to access a BB&T account set up in Lumberton under another man's name, where one of the tax refunds was sent.


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Glad he was caught, guess he won't as smart as he thought he was. Now for some serious punishment, mostly financal. We need stronger false ID punishment in all cases. Stolen ID is getting worse because the reward out weight the punishment when caught. These are not by no mean victimless crimes.

As far as I'm concerned, these "white collar" crimes are as dangerous as any other and the perpetrators should undergo lengthy prison terms, no parole, no time off for good behavior and no access of any kind to a computer. Hard labor would be appropriate. They have to learn if you steal and cheat people that you are going to pay the price.

It would have been funny if he had a fake drivers license with the name McLovin on it.

They are racking up all this money, yet the IRS, after almost 2 months, still can't tell me when I will get my refund. As Don King would put it...."Only in America"

Life Lock works

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