Identity Theft, Bank Fraud Earns Tampa Woman Federal Prison Sentence

TAMPA, FL —U.S. District Judge William F. Jung has sentenced Kemi Lim-Tom, 38, of Tampa to eight years and four months in federal prison for bank fraud, tax fraud, credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Lim-Tom was also ordered to pay $345,943.49 in restitution.

She pleaded guilty on July 26.

In February 2018, Tampa police serving a search warrant found Lim-Tom and her co-conspirator, Sonya Seago, in possession of more than 1,500 of stolen identification, which they said Lim-Tom used to commit bank fraud, tax fraud and credit card fraud.

According to court documents and evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, between 2012 and February 2018, Lim-Tom used the stolen identification to create fake company names and bank account numbers, which she then used to cash more than $600,000 in checks at various financial institutions.

An IRS investigation also revealed that, between March 2013 and July 2014, Lim-Tom used stolen identities to obtain four tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service totaling more than $27,000. She attempted to obtain another 56 refunds totaling more than $300,000 when the IRS caught on.

Lim-Tom and Seago used the stolen IDs to obtain credit cards as well, according to court documents. They used the credit cards to make more than $215,000 in purchases between January 2015 and February 2018.

On Feb. 15, Seago, 50, of Tampa was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison for her role in the fraud.

“Greed is a strong motivator for illegal activity and these sentencings demonstrate our commitment to hold criminals accountable for their corrupt behavior,” said IRS Acting Special Agent in Charge Ronald A. Loecker. “These individuals demonstrated a blatant disregard for the United States tax system and caused immeasurable damage to innocent victims."

The case was investigated by the IRS, the United States Secret Service and the Tampa Police Department.