Caesar Munir Wilson, a self-proclaimed sovereign citizen, may not have viewed the federal government as an entity that held legitimate legal authority over his life. Judging by the tax filing scams he’s charged with answering in federal court, it’s possible he saw it as something else: a piggy bank for himself and others to plunder.
Wilson made his first court appearance in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis in early February 2026, a few days after a grand jury returned a federal indictment against him. In what may be a part of the “if you’re going to go, go big” school of thought, Wilson faces multiple charges stemming from receiving and being involved in a number of false claims totalling over $350 million that allegedly netted him and another Minnesota man more than $19 million in undeserved tax refunds. He also faces federal charges for bank fraud over alleged attempts to bilk three financial institutions to the tune of $50 million.
According to the indictment, Wilson began making fraudulent claims on his tax returns as far back as 2018. The feds allege Wilson was able to cajole larger and larger “refunds” from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) each year. He even began teaching his tax fraud scheme to others, who would share a cut of their ill-gotten gains with him. The alleged false tax return scam was uncovered by federal agents from the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
Sovereign citizens like Wilson...
Caesar Munir Wilson, a self-proclaimed sovereign citizen, may not have viewed the federal government as an entity that held legitimate legal authority over his life. Judging by the tax filing scam...