Clearwater Man Among Cybercriminals Accused Of Stealing Millions

CLEARWATER, FL — A 39-year-old Clearwater man is among a band of cybercriminals responsible for nationwide computer hacks that cost companies millions of dollars, according to federal prosecutors.

On Tuesday, United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the partial unsealing of an indictment charging Dickenson Elan and seven other Floridians in a conspiracy.

According to the indictment and information shared in court, from 2015 through 2019, the eight people indicted, along with a number of other conspirators, banded together to pull off a sophisticated cybercrime and tax fraud scheme.

Federal prosecutors said Monika Shauntel Jenkins, 33, of Hollywood, Louis Noel Michel, 28, of Hollywood, Jeff Jordan Propht-Francisque, 28, of Pompano Beach and a now-deceased person called RICH4EVER4430 purchased computer server credentials of certified public accounting and tax preparation firms across the country on the dark web. They then used those server credentials to remotely access and steal the tax returns of thousands of taxpayers who were clients of those CPA and tax firms.

The tax returns included the clients’ names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and financial information.

Prosecutors say those four people then partnered with Elan, Andi Jacques, 41, of Greenacres, Michael Jean Poix, 31, of West Palm Beach, Louisaint Jolteus, 37, of West Palm Beach and others to file thousands of false tax returns in the names of more than 9,000 identity theft victims.

According to court documents, the conspirators created and operated at least six fraudulent tax preparation businesses in south Florida and used those businesses to file many of the false tax returns. They then put the tax refunds on debit cards and into bank accounts they controlled.

To make the businesses appear more legitimate, conspirators opened bank accounts in the names of the tax businesses they created to receive fake “tax preparer fees" and registered preparer tax identification numbers with the IRS using the names and information taken from their identity theft victims to make it appear that those victims were the ones who were filing false returns in bulk.

As part of the RICO (racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations) conspiracy, prosecutors said the conspirators hijacked the IRS-issued identification numbers of CPA and tax preparation firms and used those identification numbers to file scores of additional false tax returns.

To hide their criminal activity, prosecutors said the conspirators routinely used pseudonyms, opened business entities and bank accounts in the names of identity theft victims, and conducted their illicit business using dozens of different email addresses.

Altogether, the enterprise claimed more than $36 million in false tax refunds over the course of four years. The actual loss amount is still being calculated, but is at least $4 million, according to court records.

If convicted, Elan and the other conspirators face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the RICO conspiracy count.