A Yonkers, New York man has been sentenced to federal prison for carrying out a large-scale bank fraud and identity theft scheme that resulted in the theft of more than $810,000 in federal tax refund funds by impersonating a corporate executive.
Steven Ware, 64, was sentenced in federal court in Boston to 40 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to one count of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Ware was also ordered to pay $322,436.28 in restitution.
According to court records, the scheme began in December 2023, when Ware opened multiple bank accounts at a credit union in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, using the stolen identity of a senior executive at a Connecticut-based investment company. Ware falsely represented himself as the executive, providing the victim’s full name, date of birth, Social Security number, and supporting identification documents to establish the accounts.
After the accounts were opened, Ware returned to the credit union posing as the same executive and deposited a United States Treasury check payable to both the investment company and the executive in the amount of $810,337. The check represented a federal tax refund issued by the U.S. government.
Once the Treasury check cleared, Ware rapidly began extracting funds. A debit card linked to the fraudulent account was used to purchase goods at retailers across New York, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Ware also made multiple in-person visits back to the Tyngsborough credit union, continuing to impersonate the executive while initiating wire transfers totaling more than $634,000 over a short period of time.
Ware was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in September 2024 and later indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2024. He entered a guilty plea in July 2025, bringing the case to resolution at sentencing this week.
The investigation involved multiple federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, with assistance from local law enforcement in Tyngsborough. The case was prosecuted by the Securities, Financial, and Cyber Fraud Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
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I’m glad they caught this guy. What a con man! One thing I’m fuzzy on is why he only has to pay back $450,000 less than he is responsible for taking. I’m sure there is some logical reason. How he got the United States Treasury check payable to both the investment company and the executive in the amount of $810,337 is probably an interesting story all by itself.
Thank you for this article!
You’re very welcome, Chris — that’s a fair question. Restitution amounts don’t always match the total taken. Often, it’s because some of the money was recovered, frozen, or otherwise accounted for before sentencing, so the court only orders repayment of what’s still considered an unrecovered loss.
As for the Treasury check, you’re right — that part of the case is usually where things went very wrong internally. Checks made out to both a company and an individual don’t move without failures in oversight or abuse of access. Those details often exist in court records but don’t always make it into sentencing summaries, though I wish sometimes that information were available.
You’re asking good questions, as you usually do. Financial crime cases almost always have more beneath the surface than the final numbers show.
Thanks again, Chris, for your awesome support and for reading and engaging — it’s always appreciated. 😎
You’re welcome, John, and thank you for this reply and your answers. This is a very interesting case. I hope you have a great Saturday! 🙂