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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A former bank manager pleaded guilty Thursday to a tax scheme that targeted members of the Congolese immigrant community in Boston, according to the Department of Justice.
Christian Zynga pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The scheme involved falsely inflating taxpayers' federal income tax refunds. A portion of those funds was then diverted into accounts controlled by him and others.
The former Everett resident was indicted back in October 2020 along with an alleged accomplice, Boris Shadari. Shadari has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
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The scheme reportedly ran from 2012 to 2018. Starting in 2012, Zynga took customers' tax information to legitimate tax professionals and gave them fake information regarding customers' dependents, income, and expenses.
When they received the inflated refunds, they allegedly deposited part of them into customer banks accounts and some into accounts controlled by them and co-conspirators.
Starting in 2017, Zynga stopped using outside tax professionals and inflated the tax returns himself. Using his position as a bank manager, Zynga opened new accounts in others' names to create a place for him to deposit the extra funds.
The scheme allegedly resulted in a tax loss of more than $500,000. Zynga faces up to five years in prison.
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