A Florida man who was a former assistant band director at a high school in Plantation, Florida was charged for his participation in an identity theft tax fraud scheme involving former Broward County students and other individuals’ personal identifying information (PII).
Delvis Demaine Rogers, 27, was charged by indictment with one count of using one or more unauthorized access devices, one count of possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, and four counts of aggravated identity theft.
According to the criminal complaint filed on March 11, 2015, IRS-CI investigators noticed that 419 suspicious tax returns claiming refunds totaling $754,470 were filed from Rogers’ residential address from January 25, 2014 to April 20, 2014. Based on this information, a search warrant was executed at Rogers’ residence and agents discovered and seized papers, notes, and documents containing thousands of PII (including names, dates of birth, and social security numbers) including PII contained in records of more than a dozen Broward County School District students, some dating back to the late 1990s and others into the late 2000s. Agents also seized numerous printed 2013 tax returns.
Agents interviewed Rogers during the execution of the search warrant and he admitted to having prepared and filed hundreds of fraudulent tax returns without the permission of the people in whose names they were filed. Rogers further admitted that he electronically submitted the filings from his apartment. Rogers advised that he was employed as the band director at a school in Opa Locka, Florida, and that he previously was the assistant band director at a high school in Plantation, Florida.
SOURCE: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida. Investigators probably chortled and thanked their lucky starts that Rogers submitted the fraudulent returns using his home address.