INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The U.S. Attorney’s office charged two men with numerous identity theft crimes after they allegedly used the federal student aid website to bilk more than $12 million from taxpayers.

U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler announced a 23-count indictment against 29-year-old Georgia resident Taiwo K. Onamuti and Muideen A. Adebule, 49, of Indianapolis that includes allegation of aggravated identity theft, identity theft, false claims and conspiracy, the Indianapolis Star reports.

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“The Onamuti organization is responsible for stealing the identities of thousands of victims, including student who were simply trying to apply for financial aid,” Minkler said in a statement. “The organization’s criminal conduct disrupted countless lives, and led to the theft of more than $12 million from the United States Treasury – money that could and should have been spent for the benefit of the taxpayer.”

Minkler alleges the men and others used personal information purchased online or obtained through a data retrieval tool available on the website for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, then used the information to file fake electronic tax returns.

“They filed thousands of fake tax returns electronically and directed the IRS to deposit the refunds on prepaid debit cards that were then used to buy money orders in Indiana and Georgia,” Fox 59 reports. “In total, the scammers obtained or attempted to obtain $12,686,634 in federal tax refunds, prosecutors said.”

Minkler contends the thefts took place between March 2014 and March 2016, and the Department of Education and IRS were forced to remove the data retrieval tool because of the security breach.

“The announcement of today’s indictment and arrest illustrates the tremendous work of IRS Criminal Investigation and our law enforcement partners to defend innocent taxpayers from the abuse of their stolen personal information,” IRS Special Agent in Charge Gabriel Grchan said in a prepared statement.

“This type of crime not only results in theft of taxpayer funds, but also has a damaging impact to those victims whose personal information was used without authorization,” he continued. “IRS Criminal Investigation aggressively investigates all persons engaged in this type of criminal activity.”

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Assistant United States Attorney Tiffany J. Preston told WISH TV the charges carry up to a 15 year prison sentence.

According to LendEDU News:

In March, under fears of compromised personal information, the Department of Education and IRS removed the data retrieval tool from the fafsa.gov and StudentLoans.gov websites until further security measures could be implemented. Removing the tool during the peak of the financial aid application season disrupted the process for both parents and students who were trying to submit FAFSA forms. The tool’s absence even caused a bit of political backlash for the Department of Education.

The case involved investigators with the IRS, Department of Education, and U.S. Postal Service, CBS Indy reports.