ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- A Canadian man was sentenced for a $10 million conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Officials say 52-year-old Kevin Cyster from Burlington, Ontario, Canada was the ringleader of a group of Canadian citizens who forged IRS forms to falsely claim that nearly $10,000,000 of income had been withheld on their behalf by various Canadian financial institutions.
The group of Canadians arranged for the false forms to be filed electronically with the IRS by Ronald Brekke. Cyster, and the others involved in the false filings filed false federal income tax returns. The IRS identified some of the fake returns, but the group was still refunded more than $3,500,000.
The refunds were sent to Cyster and his co-conspirators before the fraud was detected.
Cyster was charged along with Renee Jarvis, Jonathan Neufeld, Christina Starkbaum, Daveanan Sookdeo, Jose Compuesto, and Timothy Johnson. Jarvis has been convicted. Neufeld and Starkbaum are deceased. Charges are pending against Sookdeo, Compuesto and Johnson. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Ronald Brekke was convicted on federal fraud charges in Washington State.
Cyster was convicted of making a false claim against the United States and illegally transferring stolen money in foreign commerce. He was sentenced to 135 months in prison.
