1. STOLEN IDENTITY REFUND FRAUD (SIRF)
Corey J. Smith
Senior Litigation Counsel
Tax Division
U.S. Department of Justice

2. Directive 144 and Expedited Review
Directive 144 – October 1, 2012
Delegation of authority in SIRF cases to USAO
Criminal Complaints
Arrest and Detention
Plea Agreements
Streamlined documentation – informal prosecution package
Copies to the IRS and Tax Division
Dedicated Mailbox
Wholly fraudulent tax return and refund
Expedited Review
Defendant in custody
Expedited review of proposed indictment – 3 days
10 day or 30 day speedy trial clock running
Need to avoid preliminary hearing
Non-historical case

3. United States v. Hieu Minh Ngo, 12cr00144-PB (District of New Hampshire)
“Unauthorized access” to Infosource, Court Ventures, databases
Posed as a private investigator to obtain “court information”
Obtained 175,000 “Fullz”
Sold the “Fullz” to tax return preparers and credit card cloners in the United States via a dedicated web site
Undercover Special Agent posed as a “customer”
search warrants used to trace purchases
Charges:
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud (18 USC 1349)
Wire fraud (18 USC 1343)
Conspiracy to commit identity theft (18 USC 371)
Identity theft (18 USC 1028(c)(7)
Aggravated identity theft (18 USC 1028A)
Conspiracy to commit access device fraud (18 USC 1029(b)(2)
Access device fraud (18 USC 1029(a)(2)
March 3, 2014: plead guilty to a three count information charging:
Wire fraud, identity theft, and access device fraud
July 14, 2015: Sentenced to 13 years imprisonment