Ex-bank manager sentenced for role in defrauding immigrants

BOSTON (AP) — A former bank manager has been sentenced to six months of home confinement for his role in a tax fraud scheme that targeted immigrants, particularly members of the Congolese community in the Boston area, federal prosecutors said.

Christian Zynga, 47, was sentenced this week to two years of probation with the first six months to be served in home detention, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office. He was also ordered to pay restitution of nearly $200,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Zynga’s accomplice, Boris Shadari, fraudulently posed as a tax professional and falsely inflated the federal income tax refunds of his clients, prosecutors said. The refunds were split between the clients and bank accounts controlled by Zynga and Shadari.

The pair also also prepared customers’ tax returns themselves, using false information to inflate refunds, then diverted a portion of those refunds to themselves, prosecutors said.

Zynga, in his role as a bank manager, opened accounts in others’ names for the purpose of receiving the fraudulent tax refunds.

Zynga pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to defraud. Shadari was sentenced in August to 2 1/2 years in prison and was ordered to pay the IRS almost $500,000 in restitution.