ALABAMA – An Alabama resident was sentenced to more than nine years in prison for her role in a more than $3 million tax fraud scam that stole IDs to file false tax returns, officials said.
Carnesha Alexander was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $840,692.
On Feb. 5, a co-conspirator in the scheme, Robert Walker, of Columbus, Georgia, was sentenced to serve seven years and 10 months in prison, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $840,692.
Alexander and Walker each previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government and one count of aggravated identity theft, officials said.
According to court documents and statements made in court, these are the facts and circumstances:
- Between January 2011 and December 2013, Alexander, Walker and their co-conspirators used stolen identities to file more than 900 false tax returns that requested approximately $3.4 million in tax refunds.
- Alexander obtained stolen identities from various sources, including the identities of employees from a company in Columbus.
- In order to file the false tax returns, Alexander, Walker and their co-conspirators applied for and obtained several Electronic Filing Numbers from the Internal Revenue Service in the names of sham tax businesses.
- The tax refunds claimed on the false returns were paid via U.S. Treasury checks mailed to addresses under the control of participants in the scheme, prepaid debit cards issued by financial institutions, and deposits to financial institutions connected to the business electronic filing that allowed participants in the scheme to print refund checks.
- Walker and his co-conspirators cashed the fraudulent refund checks at several businesses located in Alabama and Walker deposited IRS-refund checks into a bank account he controlled.
“One of the Tax Division’s highest priorities is prosecuting individuals such as Carnesha Alexander, Robert Walker and their co-conspirators, who use stolen identities to file fictitious income tax returns and claim fraudulent refunds,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline Ciraolo.
Adding, “This street crime threatens the very fabric of tax administration and often victimizes the most vulnerable members of our communities.”