Xerxes Shevar's 3,493 stolen identities
Xerxes Shevar of Brooklyn, New York pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy over a scheme, run from 2010 to 2013 with co-conspirators in the United States, Ghana, Nigeria and Ireland, that opened 3,493 bank accounts and obtained 4,563 credit cards using stolen identities to file fraudulent tax returns seeking more than $35 million in refunds. The IRS paid out at least $10 million before Shevar was sentenced in July 2025 to three years of probation and $290,000 in restitution.
- Year
- 2025
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $10.0 million
- Victims
- 11,468
- Schemes
- Stolen identity refund fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-18
The facts, as recorded
- Xerxes Shevar, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced on July 10, 2025, in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, in Erie, by Judge Susan Paradise Baxter, to three years of probation and $290,000 in restitution.
- He pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy for a scheme covering tax years 2010 through 2013.
- He was arrested in February 2024 when he returned to the United States from Ghana.
- Conspirators, based in the United States, Ghana, Nigeria and Ireland, opened approximately 3,493 bank accounts at about 443 financial institutions and obtained approximately 4,563 credit cards using stolen identities.
- Fraudulent tax returns filed in the scheme sought more than $35 million in refunds; the IRS paid out at least $10 million of it.
- The investigation identified approximately 11,468 individuals whose identities were used.
- Acting US Attorney Troy Rivetti announced the sentencing and credited IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI for the investigation; Assistant US Attorney Christian A. Trabold prosecuted the case.
Why this case matters
The scale of stolen identities in this case, 3,493 bank accounts opened across 443 separate financial institutions, is what makes it distinctive on this page. This was not a scheme built around a handful of victims; it was built around spreading a very large number of stolen identities thin enough across hundreds of institutions that no single bank’s fraud controls would see the pattern.
An international conspiracy, a domestic sentence
Conspirators operated across the United States, Ghana, Nigeria and Ireland, yet the case reached its resolution through an ordinary domestic sentencing once Shevar returned to the country and was arrested. The gap between the scheme’s operation, 2010 to 2013, and his sentencing in 2025 shows how long these cases can take to reach a conclusion once a defendant leaves the jurisdiction.
A probationary sentence for a multi-million-dollar scheme
Unlike the lengthy prison terms in other cases on this page, Shevar’s sentence was three years of probation and $290,000 in restitution, a small fraction of the more than $35 million the scheme sought and the at least $10 million the IRS actually paid. The source does not explain the disparity; it may reflect Shevar’s specific, more limited role within a much larger conspiracy, cooperation, or other factors the sentencing court weighed that are not described in the press release.
The caveat
Shevar has been sentenced following a guilty plea; this is a concluded matter as to him. The release does not name his co-conspirators in the United States, Ghana, Nigeria or Ireland, so no claims are made here about any other individual’s role or legal status.
Sources
- Brooklyn man sentenced for role in international wire fraud scheme using stolen identities to submit fraudulent tax returns seeking more than $35 million in refunds. US Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Accessed 2026-10-18. Supports: All facts above: the sentence, scheme years, arrest, the countries involved, the 3,493 bank accounts and 4,563 credit cards, the dollar figures sought and paid, the 11,468 individuals, and the prosecuting officials.