DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

CA: Man who misused Puerto Ricans’ IDs for tax fraud sentenced

Posted on August 7, 2010 by Dissent

A Downey man who was part of a scheme that fraudulently sought more than $5 million in tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service by filing federal tax returns in the names of residents of Puerto Rico has been sentenced to 57 months in federal prison.

Luis Rodriguez Ortega, 35, who used the name “Miguel Valedon” and claims to be a Mexican national, was sentenced on Monday by United States District Judge Gary A. Feess. In addition to the prison term, Judge Feess ordered Ortega to pay more than $780,000 in restitution to the United States Treasury.

Ortega pleaded guilty in April to three counts of filing false claims with the United States and one count of using a false identification document for his role in a scheme that caused the IRS to suffer actual losses of approximately $800,000. As part of the scheme, Ortega and his associates used the names and social security numbers of residents of Puerto Rico to file more than 1,000 false federal income tax returns that sought tax refunds based on the earned income credit. Using bogus out-of-state drivers licenses, Ortega and his associates opened private mail boxes, listed the legitimate taxpayers as authorized mail recipients, and asked the IRS to send the fraudulent tax refund checks to the private mail boxes.

In imposing the 57-month sentence, Judge Feess noted the seriousness of the offenses, the amount of intended loss, and the sophistication of the scheme, which involved filing tax returns in both California and Illinois. The court also noted that it did not have a good sense of the defendant’s true identity, because Ortega, who claimed to have used the name of Miguel Valedon for most of his life, did not admit his true name until the date he pleaded guilty.

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California

Related posts:

  • IRS’s Top 10 Identity Theft Prosecutions
  • The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
  • IRS’s Top Ten Identity Theft Prosecutions
  • 13 Bay area defendants charged in 4 separate tax fraud schemes
Category: ID TheftU.S.

Post navigation

← TX: Hundreds report stolen card info
Maryland reports reveal yet more breaches →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • Texas Centers for Infectious Disease Associates Notifies Individuals of Data Breach in 2024
  • Battlefords Union Hospitals notifies patients of employee snooping in their records
  • Alert: Scattered Spider has added North American airline and transportation organizations to their target list
  • Northern Light Health patients affected by security incident at Compumedics; 10 healthcare entities affected
  • Privacy commissioner reviewing reported Ontario Health atHome data breach
  • CMS warns Medicare providers of fraud scheme
  • Ex-student charged with wave of cyber attacks on Sydney uni
  • Detaining Hackers Before the Crime? Tamil Nadu’s Supreme Court Approves Preventive Custody for Cyber Offenders
  • Potential Cyberattack Scrambles Columbia University Computer Systems
  • 222,000 customer records allegedly from Manhattan Parking Group leaked

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Germany Wants Apple, Google to Remove DeepSeek From Their App Stores
  • Supreme Court upholds Texas law requiring age verification on porn sites
  • Justices nix Medicaid ‘right’ to choose doctor, defunding Planned Parenthood in South Carolina
  • European Commission publishes its plan to enable more effective law enforcement access to data
  • Sacred Secrets: The Biblical Case for Privacy and Data Protection
  • Microsoft’s Departing Privacy Chief Calls for Regulator Outreach
  • Nestle USA Settles Suit Over Job-Application Medical Questions

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.