Thervil Alcinor, 34, of Miami, was sentenced today before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga to 88 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Alcinor previously pled guilty to one count of access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(2), and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.
According to court documents, from January 2013 through May 2014, Alcinor was involved in the use of personal identifying information (names, dates of birth, and social security numbers belonging to real people) to file fraudulent applications for Social Security Retirement Insurance Benefits (RIB) and Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB), and to file fraudulent income tax returns with the IRS claiming false refunds.
Court documents state that Alcinor was involved in establishing online accounts on the Social Security Administration website, MySSA.gov, for already-existing RIB or DIB beneficiaries to redirect RIB and DIB payments to accounts (often prepaid debit card accounts) controlled by him. Law enforcement identified 945 fraudulently established MySSA accounts, all with similarly concocted fraudulent email addresses. The fraudulent claims resulted in $700,462 in fraudulent RIB and DIB payments.
According to court documents, Alcinor was also involved in the filing of fraudulent tax returns claiming refunds from the IRS which he directed into accounts (often prepaid debit card accounts) controlled by him. Specifically from April 2012 through September 2013, 54 fraudulent income tax refunds, totaling $174,862.20, were identified by H&R Block records as having been deposited into accounts associated with Alcinor. An additional 14 fraudulent tax refunds, totaling $31,137.28, were connected to the scheme by IRS.
SOURCE: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida