OLD SAYBROOK, CT. (WFSB) – A federal grand jury has indicted an Old Saybrook business owner and a North Carolina man on tax fraud charges.
61-year-old Michael Meade of Old Saybrook and 70-year-old Chet Lee West of North Carolina face a 20-count indictment charging them with numerous tax fraud offenses.
The indictment alleges Meade has owned and operated Innovative Components LLC and subsequently Liquidlevel.com LLC, a Southington-based business engaged in the manufacturing and sale of liquid level float control mechanisms. He has a federal tax obligation of around $2.5 million for the years 2001 through 2010, 2012 and 2013, according to the indictment.
Since around 2016, he has attempted to evade payment in various ways, including withdrawing large amounts of cash and purchasing cashier’s checks from his business accounts and using the funds for personal expenditures, depositing company…
Identity theft is the “foundational” fraud upon which many other crimes are built. It involves the unauthorized acquisition and use of a person’s personal identifying information (PII), such as an ID number, Social Security number, or passport details.
- How it works: Fraudsters obtain PII through data breaches, mail theft, or “social engineering” (tricking people into revealing details). Once they have this data, they can open new bank accounts, apply for credit cards or loans, and even receive medical treatment under your name.
- Synthetic Identity Fraud: A sophisticated variation where criminals combine real and fabricated information to create a completely new, “synthetic” person. This is particularly difficult to detect because there is no single victim to report the suspicious activity initially.