US citizen of Armenian origin Hakop Zakaryan, the former manager of a Wells Fargo branch in Glendale pleaded guilty to fraud in the Federal Courtroom of Santa Ana.
Report informs citing the American press that a former bank employee faces up to 30 years in prison.
According to Zakaryan, being a Bank Manager in Glendale, he used his position to aid a $14-million money laundering scam involving tax refunds.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Zakaryan would be paid thousands of dollars in cash to unfreeze fraudulent bank accounts that were created using fake identities. In one instance that took place in July 2014, Zakaryan was paid about $3,000 to unfreeze an account that held $29,453, which allowed the scammers to withdraw those funds.
The scam spanned several years and involved hundreds of bogus bank accounts opened using stolen identities and fabricated passports for the Republic of Armenia. Authorities said money from IRS refunds that were issued using fake tax returns would then be placed into the accounts.
About 7,000 of the fraudulent tax returns seeking roughly $38 million in refunds were submitted to the Internal Revenue Service. The agency ended up issuing $14 million in refunds.