And here’s a follow-up to another case involving stolen identity tax refund fraud:
A Houston, Texas, man was sentenced to more than two years in prison Monday for his role in a stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) scheme, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo, head of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas.
Denzel Roberts, 24, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes of the Southern District of Texas to serve 24 months in prison followed by a two year term of supervised release. Judge Hughes ordered Roberts to pay $74,341 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In May, Roberts pleaded guilty to one count of theft of public money.
According to court documents, Roberts participated in a scheme that used stolen personal identification information to file false federal income tax returns for tax year 2014. Participants in the scheme obtained means of identification of actual individuals, including their names and social security numbers, and used this information to access the IRS’s “Get Transcript” database. Using the stolen identities and information obtained from the Get Transcript database, other members of the scheme prepared and filed false tax returns fraudulently requesting refunds. Roberts admitted using a fraudulent passport to open several bank accounts into which the refunds were deposited. Roberts then withdrew the illicit proceeds, retaining a portion of the money as a fee and providing the remainder of the funds to others.