Florida has seen a significant number of tax fraud cases in recent years. Federal authorities have been collaborating with local officials in an effort to stem that tide. A recent tax crime case in the Sunshine State involves a man from Panama City, Florida.
The man, 31, was accused of having filed fraudulent tax returns. According to the charges against him, he did so using personal identifying information belonging to other individuals. As a result, he and his accomplices obtained payments from the United States Treasury in the amount of $23,496, all via the fraudulent tax returns.
He has now been ordered to pay that full amount back to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. That payment serves as financial restitution for the crime. Additionally, he was ordered to pay a special monetary assessment in the amount of $900 and was sentenced to three years of supervised release. The case was based on an investigation by the IRS.
The tax scheme that he was involved in was based on the man’s accomplices bringing the personal identifying information of unrelated individuals to him. He would then use that information to file false tax returns in the names of those individuals.
The tax returns all had certain commonalities. Those included made-up taxable interest income, the names of specific financial institutions and made-up amounts of both Social Security income and tax withholdings.
Tax crime cases occur frequently in Florida. Every case is unique and includes many different factors that could mitigate the culpability or demonstrate the innocence of those accused. Those who have been accused of such crimes could benefit from the services of an experienced criminal defense attorney.
Source: WMBB.com, “Panama City Man Sentenced for Income Tax Fraud” No author given, Dec. 04, 2013
