According to a Department of Justice (DoJ) press release, Anthony Alika, 42 and his wife, Sonia Alika, 27, pleaded guilty in a Georgia district court for their roles in the May 2015 IRS “Get Transcript” breach that compromised nearly 700,000 taxpayer accounts.

In the press release, the husband was charged and pleaded guilty to committing money laundering while his wife pleaded guilty to one count of illegally structuring cash withdrawals to evade bank reporting requirements.

The couple did not work alone. Authorities said the couple obtained personal information needed to break into the IRS “Get Transcript” database in order to file fraudulent returns using the identities stolen from the database.

In January 2016, the two were charged with laundering the proceeds from the scam onto prepaid debit cards registered in victims' names.

With their guilty pleas, the couple faces jail time of 20 years for the husband and 10 years for the wife. The sentencing will be carried out July 27th.

Source: SCMagazine