A Westmoreland County man is facing prison time and a fine for his role in an IRS impersonation fraud scheme.
On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman announced that 32-year-old Michael Galanis of Export pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Galanis used call centers in India to place calls to U.S. residents. The pre-recorded call messages claimed to be from the IRS regarding the recipients failure to pay taxes.
The person receiving the call was then given a U.S. phone number to call to resolve the matter. Those calls would automatically route to the call centers in India, where operators would tell the callers that they owed money and demand immediate payment using gift cards and other payment methods.
Galanis also activated cell phones in the U.S. knowing they would be used in the fraud scheme.
Galanis participated in the conspiracy from March 2016 to August 2017 according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
Sentencing will take place on September 13, 2021. Galanis faces 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.
Total losses from this scheme are estimated to be between $150,000 to $250,000.
