One former Florida student from Miami Dade College is preparing to spend three years of his life in prison after being convicted of a tax fraud scheme. He was arrested in Nov. 2014 for his suspected role in the white collar crime. Reportedly, nearly 20 other students were indicted on similar charges.
The accused are said to have committed acts that amounted to $1.9 million in tax fraud. Apparently, they are said to have stolen the identities of at least 644 fellow students in order to carry out the financial scheme. The group reportedly submitted as many as 22 fraudulent tax refund forms to the U.S. Department of Treasury between July and Oct. 2012.
More than $100,000 was reportedly scheduled for direct deposit into the personal bank account that the recently sentenced student held at a bank in the college town. He was ordered to pay nearly $30,000 in restitution. After serving his prison sentence, he will additionally be under supervised release for three years.
White collar crime carries potentially severe penalties under conviction in Florida. Those in the above case would have been permitted to seek legal counsel before proceeding to court. In all such cases, throughout the United States, a person is presumed innocent in the eyes of the law, unless and until guilty in court. It is typically advisable to act under the guidance of an experienced criminal lawyer in order to gain help in preparing a strong defense that has the potential to lead to as positive an outcome as possible in court.
Source: bizjournals.com, “Former Miami Dade College student gets 3 years in prison for role in identity theft tax refund scheme“, Nina Lincoff, Oct. 20, 2015
