Feds: Philly Social Worker Sold IDs of Foster Kids to Tax Prep Company

Gebah Kamara was a social worker for Catholic Social Services in Philadelphia until late 2011, handling the cases of foster children referred to CSS by the Department of Human Services. Conveniently, Kamara had access to the children’s names, birth dates and Social Security numbers, and, according to an indictment just unsealed by the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia (see below), he allegedly sold that information to a tax preparation business, which in turn used the children as false dependents on clients’ income tax returns.

Kamara, seen here in the profile photo for his deleted Twitter account, has been charged with conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, among other charges. Also charged were Ahmed Kamara, Musa Turay, Ibrahim Kamara, Dauda Koroma and Foday Mansaray, all of whom worked as tax preparers at Medmans Financial Services near 65th Street and Chester Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia. A person answering the phone at Medmans on Friday morning declined to comment.

The U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia has also unsealed a completely different indictment alleging a similar scheme surrounding Momolu Sirleaf, the owner of I.E.S. Tax Services in Darby. According to that indictment, Sirleaf charged clients approximately $800 to include false dependents on their income tax returns, using the identities and Social Security numbers of foster children on those returns. The phone number for I.E.S. has been disconnected.

“The allegations in these indictments depict a disturbing practice of exploiting some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” said U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger in a statement. “The conduct in these cases … is truly despicable, and those who are responsible must be brought to justice.”

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