Albany

A prison inmate was arrested on Friday on charges of filing hundreds of tax-credit applications, using phony and stolen Social Security numbers to systematically bilk the state of New York of more than $4,500.

Kavin Santos, 26, who also uses the name Steven Augustine, began his alleged crime spree two years ago while being held on a parole violation at Rikers Island Correctional Facility in Queens. He continued filing the tax-credit forms for a few months after being sent to Coxsackie Correctional Facility in Greene County last year, court records show.

Santos had been sentenced to state prison terms twice for burglary convictions in Queens. Before his arrest Friday, he was scheduled to be released from custody in January 2016, but his time behind bars could now be extended.

A felony complaint filed in Albany City Court accuses Santos of filing 387 tax-credit forms for the tax years 2008 through 2011, in which he attempted to obtain $32,122 in tax refunds. The one-page forms, called a NYC-210, enable New York City residents to seek a school tax credit of up to $63 per individual. The forms can be filed individually with the state Department of Taxation and Finance and do not need to be part of an income-tax filing.

The case against Santos is being prosecuted by the Albany County district attorney's office because the tax-rebate checks were processed in Albany.

The scheme unraveled when employees with the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision alerted state tax investigators about the high number of tax-rebate checks that were being mailed to Santos in prison and deposited into his inmate account. Santos requested "paper" checks on his tax-credit forms and had them mailed to various relatives around the New York City area, according to law enforcement officials.

The felony complaint cites four specific tax forms in which Santos used legitimate Social Security numbers of New York state residents from Little Falls, Mount Sinai on Long Island and Woodside, Queens and another form using the Social Security number of a Virginia Beach woman. He also filed forms using bogus Social Security numbers, but it's unclear how many of those applications were approved.

Santos was arraigned in City Court and returned to the custody of state prison officials.

blyons@timesunion.com • 518-454-5547 • @blyonswriter