David Haigler Pleads Guilty to Cashing Fraudlent Tax Refund Checks

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2013/txdv13995.htm

WASHINGTON – David Haigler, of Montgomery County, Ala., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama today to one count of theft of public funds and to one count of passing U.S. Treasury checks with forged endorsements, the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Secret Service announced today.

According to court documents, between November 2011 and July 2012, Haigler obtained 263 fraudulent U.S. Treasury refund checks and refund anticipation loan checks totaling $606,781.34. The refund checks were in the names of different individuals who had not authorized Haigler to cash them. Haigler cashed the refund checks at a store in Millbrook, Ala., by providing the store with copies of fictitious powers of attorney in the names of the individuals on the checks.

For his involvement in the scheme, Haigler faces a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in jail and a fine of up to $500,000.

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Federal Court Permanently Bars Nina Thompson Tax Preparer From Preparing Tax Returns for Others

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2013/txdv13990.htm

Texas Tax Preparer Filed Returns Claiming False Federal Fuel Credits and Withholding to Overstate Tax Refunds

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that a federal court has permanently barred Nina Thompson Price from preparing federal tax returns for others. The civil injunction order, to which Thompson Price consented, was signed Sept. 3, 2013, by Judge Nancy F. Atlas of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

In the consent order, Thompson Price agreed that she, individually, and doing business as N.M. & T. Tax Service, prepared over 1,500 federal tax returns for customers during tax years 2009, 2010 and 2011 claiming false and exaggerated Schedule C business deductions and education credits, as well as other deductions to understate her clients' tax liabilities and overstate their tax refunds. The complaint alleges the United States suffered a total harm exceeding $100,000.

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Angelique Djonret Sentenced to Jail for Role in Identity Theft Tax Scheme

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2013/txdv13983.htm

WASHINGTON – Angelique Djonret of Montgomery, Ala., was sentenced today to serve two years in prison for her involvement in a million dollar identity theft tax fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr. Angelique Djonret pleaded guilty to identity theft on April 19, 2013.

According to court documents, between October 2009 and April 2012, Angelique Djonret's sister, Antoinette Djonret, orchestrated a tax refund scheme using stolen identities to file over 1,000 false tax returns that fraudulently claimed over $1.7 million in tax refunds. Antoinette Djonret obtained stolen identities from multiple sources, including Alabama state databases. She also established an elaborate network for laundering the refund money. Antoinette Djonret recruited her sister, Angelique, into the conspiracy, whose role was to obtain prepaid debit cards in her name and others' names for purposes of receiving the fraudulent tax refunds. Antoinette Djonret and her co-conspirators used the cards to obtain the refund proceeds. Angelique Djonret also assisted in the filing of false tax returns using stolen identities. Antoinette Djonret was previously sentenced to 12 years in prison.

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Anton Paul Drago Indicted for Multi-Million Dollar Nationwide Fraud Scheme

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2013/txdv13982.htm

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that an indictment was unsealed in Las Vegas, charging Anton Paul Drago, formerly known as Evan Joseph Fogarty, a resident of Las Vegas, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, attempting to pass a fictitious obligation, false claims for veteran's benefits, theft of public funds, failing to file a federal income tax return and making false statements to a federal agent. The indictment was returned by a grand jury on Aug.28, 2013 and was unsealed yesterday after Drago's initial appearance following arrest.

According to the indictment, Drago and Joseph Rizzuti, an unindicted co-conspirator who owned and operated an accounting and bookkeeping business in Florida, solicited investors by falsely representing that investment monies would be used for legal fees and business expenses to fund the production, refinement and shipping of oil from Nigeria to the Bahamas. In fact, Drago used the investment monies for personal expenses.

The indictment further alleges that Drago falsely claimed unemployability compensation benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and of stealing benefits to which he was not entitled. The indictment also alleges that Drago attempted to pass a fictitious financial instrument purportedly worth $10,000,000 at a bank, failed to file a 2007 federal income tax return and made a false statement to federal law enforcement agents by telling them that he did not profit from monies received from investors and that every penny he received from investors went to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Drago faces a potential maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit wire fraud count; 20 years in prison for each of the two wire fraud counts; five years in prison for each of the three false claims counts; 10 years in prison for the theft of public funds count; 25 years in prison for the fictitious obligation count; five years in prison for the false statement count; and one year in prison for the failure to file a federal income tax return count. He is also subject to fines and mandatory restitution if convicted.

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Aaron Cohen Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Conceal Israeli Back Accounts

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2013/txdv13978.htm

Encino, Calif., Resident is the Latest in a Series of Defendants Charged with Conspiring with Bankers to Hide Secret Israeli Bank Accounts

WASHINGTON – Aaron Cohen of Encino, Calif., pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) announced.

According to court documents, Cohen, a U.S. citizen, maintained undeclared bank accounts at two international banks headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, identified in court documents as Bank A and Bank B. One of Cohen's undeclared accounts was maintained at a branch of Bank A located in the Cayman Islands. The accounts were held in the names of nominees in order to keep them secret from the U.S. Government. In or about 2000, Cohen began using the funds in his undeclared account in the Cayman Islands as collateral for back-to-back loans obtained from another branch of Bank A located in Los Angeles. Cohen's ownership of the funds in the Cayman Islands accounts was not identified in the loan records maintained at the Los Angeles branch, thus concealing the fact that he was borrowing his own money, paying tax-deductible interest on the loans and not reporting the interest income he was earning in the Cayman Islands on his U.S. tax returns.

According to the plea agreement, in or about 2009, Cohen transferred approximately $2 million from his Cayman Islands account at Bank A to a new offshore account at Bank B in Israel. Cohen then used the funds in the new account as collateral to obtain a back-to-back loan from the Los Angeles branch of Bank B. Cohen failed to report any income from the accounts on his individual income tax returns that were filed with the IRS. For tax years 2006 through 2009, Cohen failed to report interest income of approximately $238,000. The highest balance in the undeclared accounts was approximately $3,450,000.

"Today's guilty plea is but the latest example that attempting to hide income and assets from the United States in offshore accounts is a bad gamble," said Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Tax Division Kathryn Keneally. "The Internal Revenue Service will find the hiding places and the Department of Justice will criminally prosecute these tax cheats, who face potential jail time, still owe the taxes due and may lose those hidden assets and more to severe civil penalties."

"Mr. Cohen is yet another taxpayer caught using anonymous offshore accounts to avoid paying his fair share of taxes," said IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Richard Weber. "Through IRS-CI's efforts, we are gaining access to more and more information on institutions and individuals involved in offshore tax fraud, and you can expect us to use all of our enforcement tools to fight offshore tax evasion."

Cohen is the latest in a series of defendants charged in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with failing to report income from undeclared accounts in Israel.

On March 29, 2013, Zvi Sperling of Beverly Hills, Calif., pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States in connection with back-to-back loans obtained in Los Angeles at branches of Bank A and Bank B that were secured by funds in undeclared bank accounts in Israel. For tax years 2005 through 2008, Sperling failed to report income of approximately $381,563. The highest balance in Sperling's undeclared accounts was approximately $4 million.

On May 21, 2013, Guity Kashfi of Los Angeles, Calif., pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States in connection with back-to-back loans obtained from branches of Bank A and Bank B in Los Angeles that were secured by funds in undeclared bank accounts in Israel and Luxembourg. For tax years 2005 through 2011, Kashfi failed to report interest income of approximately $221,306. The highest balance in Kashfi's undeclared accounts was approximately $2.5 million.

U.S. citizens and residents who have an interest in, or signature or other authority over, a financial account in a foreign country with assets in excess of $10,000 are required to disclose the existence of such account on Schedule B, Part III, of their individual income tax returns. Additionally, U.S. citizens and residents must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Reports (FBAR) with the U.S. Treasury disclosing any financial account in a foreign country with assets in excess of $10,000 in which they have a financial interest, or over which they have signature or other authority.

Cohen faces a potential maximum prison term of five years and a maximum fine of $250,000. In addition, Cohen has agreed to pay a civil penalty to the IRS in the amount of 50 percent of the high balance of his undeclared accounts for failing to file FBARs.

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Justice Department Sues to Shut Down Jessica Geddis Tax Return Preparer

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2013/txdv13966.htm

Summerville Tax Preparer Allegedly Overstates Refunds by Improperly Claiming Refundable Tax Credits and Directs the IRS to Deposit Refunds into her Bank Accounts

WASHINGTON – The United States has requested the federal district court in Charleston, S.C. to permanently bar Jessica Geddis of Summerville, S.C., from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

According to the complaint, Geddis prepared federal income tax returns from her home and as a tax preparer at MBM Tax and Accounting Services LLC. The complaint alleges that Geddis prepared returns for herself and others that overstate income by reporting fictitious household help income. Geddis overstated her customers' income in order to increase the amount of her customers' refundable tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Making Work Pay Credit.

The complaint further alleges that Geddis directed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to deposit all, or a portion of, her customers' overstated refunds into bank accounts that she controls. According to the complaint, the IRS has reviewed Geddis' bank records and determined that she has received at least 148 fraudulent tax refunds totaling $281,678 between January 2008 and May 2012.

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