HONOLULU –Leihinahina Sullivan, 51, of Lihue, Kauai, was sentenced right this moment earlier than United States District Choose J. Michael Seabright to 17 years in jail and three years of supervised launch for 3 counts of wire fraud and one rely of aggravated identification theft associated to a number of long-running fraudulent schemes. Sullivan beforehand pleaded responsible to those offenses in July 2021. She can also be required to pay $3,396,035.15 in restitution to varied victims and private and non-private entities and topic to a penalty of $2,012,41.92 in forfeiture for the legal proceeds of her offenses. In sentencing Sullivan, Choose Seabright described the “staggering scope, size, and complexity” of her legal conduct.
In response to courtroom paperwork and knowledge introduced in courtroom, Sullivan perpetrated three fraud schemes starting as early as January 2011, by way of at the least July 2019. Sullivan devised a tax fraud scheme involving over $2.8 million in tax loss, largely within the type of fraudulent tax refunds from the IRS and the State of Hawaii that she and the opposite people weren’t entitled to obtain. She filed a whole bunch of false tax returns for herself and for others. The false federal and state tax returns included fictitious bills, claims for credit, and different objects Sullivan knew had been false when made. Sullivan didn’t evaluate these tax returns with the people earlier than she filed the tax returns of their names and solid their signatures on lots of the returns.
In response to additional info introduced to the courtroom, the second scheme concerned academic fraud. For faculty-bound college students, largely positioned on the island of Kauai, Sullivan ready and submitted false pupil mortgage, grant, scholarship, and monetary support purposes and different paperwork that requested cash from private and non-private educational-based monetary help and support suppliers. Sullivan transferred some cash from college students’ monetary support purposes to her private financial institution accounts and different financial institution accounts that she managed, then spent the cash on her personal private and different bills, similar to for her dwelling building, retail purchases, and her payments.
Within the final fraud scheme, in accordance with info introduced to the courtroom, Sullivan used private identification info of many people, similar to social safety numbers and start dates, to use for and use roughly 40 bank cards in different peoples’ names and underneath their assured strains of credit score with out their authorization. Sullivan spent over $1 million on these unauthorized playing cards.
“This 17-year sentence holds Sullivan accountable for the injury she brought on by her years-long fraudulent schemes, the cash she stole from people in her group and private and non-private establishments, and her repeated and willful rejection of the rule of legislation.” mentioned United States Lawyer Clare E. Connors. “This sentence will cease Sullivan from persevering with to prey on susceptible members of our group who unwittingly trusted her manipulation and lies.”
“Sullivan has spent the final decade spinning an online of lies, committing fraud, and never caring who she harm within the course of. However that ends right this moment, as Ms. Sullivan faked it till she made it to a real-life jail sentence,” mentioned Particular Agent in Cost Bret Kressin, IRS Felony Investigation (IRS-CI), Seattle Subject Workplace. “Whereas crime could seem to pay within the quick run, right this moment’s sentence is a reminder that IRS:CI is dedicated to bringing real-world penalties for fraud. ”
“I’m pleased with the work of OIG Particular Brokers and our legislation enforcement companions for his or her work on this case and their dedication to defending the integrity of Federal funds, and particularly, Federal pupil support and the scholars that depend on these funds to make their goals of upper schooling a actuality,” mentioned Adam Shanedling, Particular Agent in Cost of the Division of Training’s Workplace of Inspector Normal’s (DOE-OIG) Western Regional Workplace. “We are going to proceed to pursue those that exploit harmless college students and misappropriate Federal pupil support or sport their system for their very own egocentric functions.”
IRS-CI carried out the investigation ensuing within the indictment, in partnership with DOE-OIG, the FBI, and the State of Hawaii, Division of Taxation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca Perlmutter and Mohammad Khatib prosecuted the case.