Former Export man sentenced for role in bogus tax-collection scheme

A former Export man was sentenced to one year in federal prison Monday for his role in a bogus tax-collection scheme, according to prosecutors.

Michael Galanis, 34, was ordered to spend two years on supervised release after the prison term and pay $7,500 in restitution.

He pleaded guilty in April 2021 to wire fraud conspiracy. An indictment states that Galanis and two others worked together between March 2016 and August 2017 to activate and program cellphone numbers that callers would later use to impersonate employees of the Internal Revenue Service. The impersonators left messages instructing recipients to call the IRS on specific telephone numbers which were answered by the scammers. Between $150,000 and $250,000 was extorted to pay off fictitious tax debts, investigators said.

“The IRS impersonation fraud scheme involved call centers located in India that would use phone numbers to make their calls appear to originate in the United States,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum.

Galanis was a minor participant in the scheme, they said.

Defense attorney Robert S. Carey Jr. wrote in a sentencing memorandum that a prison term would disrupt Galanis’ employment. Carey had sought a sentence that did not include prison time.

He reported Galanis had a tough upbringing but has managed to become a motivated worker and business owner.

“There is no evidence establishing that Michael Galanis understood the scope and structure of the conspiracy or that he participated in planning or organizing the scheme,” Carey wrote in the memorandum. “Michael Galanis did not have decision-making authority in this scam.”