St. Paul man charged with identity theft and tax crimes

By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune

Last update: November 13, 2008 - 11:16 AM

A St. Paul man who allegedly owes the state more than $3,700 has been charged with seven felony tax crimes and one case of identity theft, the Minnesota Department of Revenue said today.

Johnny Opara, 55, was charged with three counts of filing false income tax returns, four counts of filing false property and rent credit tax returns, and one count of identity theft, according a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court.

The complaint states that several people claimed that they hired Opara to prepare their taxes but that he never filed them. In one case, Opara allegedly admitted to an officer that he did prepare a tax return for one of the victims but that the government sent the check to California by mistake.

The complaint also alleges that Opara received fraudulent refunds after claiming earnings from jobs he did not have and that he filed fraudulent property rent tax credit returns and received a $1,100 refund in 2004. Other refunds were blocked before Opara received them.

The complaint states that 12 people signed affidavits stating that Opara falsely filed income tax returns in their names without their knowledge or consent. In one case, Opara admitted to investigators that in 2005 he filed a return for a woman he did not know and listed dependents that she did not have. Opara told investigators that he had had a stroke and practices preparing tax returns without meaning to send them, but that some "get sent" and he can't cancel them.

Each felony charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both. The identity theft charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.

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