Nigerian Accused in Missouri of Role in Tax Refund Scheme

A Nigerian national residing in Guatemala is accused in a St. Louis federal indictment of playing a role in the theft of $734,000 in undeserved tax refunds by using stolen identities.

Federal grand jurors accused 38-year-old Olusola Luke of conspiracy and theft of U.S. government funds in connection with the alleged scheme between 2013 and 2015.

The indictment alleges that Luke and co-conspirators used stolen identities of dozens of people to get hundreds of thousands of dollars through false tax returns.

Luke was arrested last Thursday by U.S. marshals at Washington Dulles International Airport. Luke on Tuesday waived a detention hearing in Virginia and agreed to be returned to St. Louis for prosecution.

Online court records do not show whether Luke has a Missouri attorney.