A man will soon be transported by the U.S. Marshals Service to the Central District of California to face charges involving tax fraud and identify theft. The IRS Criminal Investigation division conducted the investigation that led to the man’s indictment on tax crimes. The man, who was not from California, was apprehended at an airport on the east coast.
He is accused of conducting an income tax refund scheme that allegedly cost the government somewhere around $3,478,182. It is said that the man filed over 300 fraudulent returns that resulted in refunds. One of those refunds totaled $1,003,957 and was issued to someone living on campus at the University of California in Los Angeles.
In June 2013, a search warrant was obtained for and executed at a home in Texas authorities believed is owned by the man accused of the scheme. Several items were seized during that search including social security numbers and identification documents. Federal authorities purport that these items belong to the man they have arrested.
Once the man is transported to California, he will be arraigned for the tax crimes relating to the scheme he allegedly perpetrated on the IRS. It could take months for both the prosecution and the defense to go through all of the paperwork involved in the 300 supposed fraudulent income tax refunds. However, it is the right of the defense to review all of the evidence and to confront any witnesses against him. A good defense will be beneficial since the man is facing at least 75 years in prison if he is convicted.
Source: accountingtoday.com, “Man Indicted in Multimillion-Dollar Identity Theft and Tax Refund Fraud Scheme,” Michael Cohn, July 12, 2013
