Lee B Posted April 23, 2015 Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 5 comments Portland judge sends 4 IRS cheats to prison for ID theft, tax return scam By Bryan Denson | The Oregonian/OregonLive 0 Reddit Four IRS cheats perpetrated what a Portland judge on Tuesday called "a vast fraudulent conspiracy" in which they stole identities and filed 208 phony tax returns in an attempt to make more than $1 million. They made off with $427,896 of that money from the U.S. Treasury Department, turning it into vintage and luxury autos, expensive shoes, diamond rings, and a whole lot of cocktails and meals. "I was very materialistic," 32-year-old Gresham resident Jheraun Dunlap admitted to Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones before his sentencing. "Materialism can bring the worst out of you." You can't make this stuff up Dunlap and his 27-year-old wife, Brandi McCall, of Gresham – and their co-defendants Ernest Bagsby, 37, and Jermaine Moore, 34 – were forced to turn over assets they accumulated in their crimes. Those assets included a late-model Mercedes-Benz 500 and a 1971 Pontiac Firebird – purchased with clumps of $20 bills. Jones sentenced all four to prison for their roles in the plot, which was undone by agents with the IRS Criminal Investigations Division. Dunlap, who had a bank robbery conviction on his record, got 5 years, 5 months. Bagsby, a convicted heroin dealer, got 4 years, 3 months. Moore got 3 years, 9 months. And McCall got 1 year, 1 day, which with good behavior would put her on the street in about 10 months. Jones allowed McCall to serve her sentence before her husband goes away so that their children will have a parent at home to take care of them. Prosecutors explained the scheme in court records and courtroom hearings: The foursome, aided by two other defendants awaiting sentencing, played roles in stealing the identification of other people. Then they filed fraudulent tax returns with the IRS. "The defendants directed the IRS to deposit the tax refunds onto store-value debit cards and then the proceeds were shared among the participants in the scheme," Acting U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams announced in joint press release with Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo. IRS agents captured video images of Dunlap, Bagsby, Moore and McCall as they withdrew cash from the debit cards. But the agents captured even more telling evidence from the conspirators' Facebook accounts. One of those images, downloaded from Bagsby's Facebook page, showed what appears to be a tray choked with clumps of folded-over $20 bills and a bottle of Patron tequila. The photo came with a caption: "So I was unable to rubber band up (due) to the fact that it just keeps pouring in ..." 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted April 23, 2015 Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 Just a drop in the sea of fraudsters. Until Americans are weaned from "immediate" refunds, this problem will not go away. All attempts and processes to reduce them are only a scratch on the surface of the problem. Americans dependency on the tax refund as a savings account is the source of the problem. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsTabbyKats Posted April 23, 2015 Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 Question....I never heard of refunds being put on debit cards (not with the IRS anyway). Am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneInAlabama Posted April 23, 2015 Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 The IRS hires convicted bank robbers and heroin dealers and people stupid enough to spend money lavishly and post it on face book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted April 23, 2015 Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 Question....I never heard of refunds being put on debit cards (not with the IRS anyway). Am I missing something? It has been an option by many software providers for several years. The IRS has stated they would like to move to that instead of mailing checks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcjenkins Posted April 23, 2015 Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 Google "tax refund on prepaid debit card" and you get About 260,000 results (0.39 seconds) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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