Tampa law enforcement cracking down on income tax fraud

June 22, 2013

Tampa law enforcement cracking down on income tax fraud

Article provided by Jaime J. Garcia Attorney at Law
Visit us at http://www.jaimegarcialaw.com

In recent years, the Tampa area has come under target as a hotbed of income tax refund fraud. In these crimes, individuals use stolen identities to file tax returns and then keep the refund checks for themselves.

Cracking down on these tax crimes has become a major priority for both state and federal law enforcement officials. The penalties for conviction can be significant.

In June, a Tampa woman was sentenced to more than five years in prison after being convicted of stealing over 150 identities for the purpose of filing false tax returns. As part of her sentence, she was also ordered to forfeit more than $140,000 worth of personal property she allegedly purchased with fraudulently-obtained cash.

In April, another Tampa woman was sentenced to six years and four months in prison after being convicted on tax fraud charges. Prosecutors said she stole at least 320 identities and claimed more than $1 million in fraudulent income tax refunds. She also is alleged to have organized "drop" parties in which people would get together with the intent of exchanging stolen identities and filing false returns.

In March, a Tampa man was sentenced to 15 years in prison on tax fraud and aggravated identity fraud charges in a years-long fraudulent return scheme that netted more than $1.17 million in 2010 alone. All told, the man is accused of submitting fraudulent returns that claimed almost $9 million in refunds. Not all of the returns were accepted by the IRS, however. The man is also accused of entering into a conspiracy in which he sold cars and other merchandise in exchange for tax refund debit cards.

Florida tax fraud prosecutions

It was this final case that tipped off Florida authorities to the true extent of identity theft-based income tax fraud. Apparently the man was well known to law enforcement and Tampa police could tell he was living beyond his means. However, they couldn't connect him to the drug trade and therefore had a difficult time figuring out where his money was coming from.

Ultimately, it took nearly two years of investigation before the man could be charged.

This sort of delay is not unique. There are strict privacy laws that restrict the Internal Revenue Service's ability to share information with local law enforcement offices. This is true even if the IRS suspects that a taxpayer is engaging in fraud or reporting illegal income.

While some of these issues have been streamlined, delays still exist. However, this doesn't mean that people engaging in income tax fraud won't get caught. Instead, many operate for months or even years under a false sense of security. By the time they are caught, the extent of the fraud has grown so large that serious criminal penalties become a real possibility.

Because of the significant consequences attached to a tax fraud conviction, it is important for anyone charged with tax fraud or identity theft to enlist the help of an experienced criminal defense attorney.