NEW YORK: A Pakistani man has been sentenced by a US federal court to more than three years in prison for carrying out a scheme to steal more than $800,000 in tax refunds.

In a press statement released here by US Attorney for Southern District Preet Bharara, the accused, Nisar Sahi, was sentenced by District Judge Denise Cote to 37 months in prison for stealing government funds.

From 2011 to 2015, Sahi devised and ran a scheme to obtain false and fraudulent tax returns totalling $803,995 from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

He carried out the scheme by preparing and submitting to the IRS federal income tax returns — using the names and social security numbers of others — and directing that the refunds be sent to bank accounts and addresses that he controlled, the attorney said.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2016