{"id":22143,"date":"2016-04-05T10:41:04","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T17:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=22143"},"modified":"2016-04-05T10:52:11","modified_gmt":"2016-04-05T17:52:11","slug":"man-stole-ids-file-tax-refunds-gets-two-years-added-prison-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=22143","title":{"rendered":"Man Who Stole IDs to File 275 Fraudulent Tax Refunds Gets Two More Years Added to His Prison Sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"> <strong>LOS ANGELES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">A 63-year-old man who was serving a 27 month prison sentence for fraudulently filing tax refunds was given an additional two years behind bars for his role in another tax-fraud scheme that used stolen identities, officials announced today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1648 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/u.s.DISTRICT-COURT-CENTRAL-DISTRICT.png\" alt=\"u.s.DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT\" width=\"157\" height=\"155\" \/>Adel Cotton<\/strong>, 63, had been sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald, who ordered that 27 months be served concurrently or together with Cotton&#8217;s prior sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The judge also ordered\u00a0Cotton to pay $725,294 in restitution to the IRS.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Adel Cotton plead guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS by obtaining the payment of false claims, namely tax refunds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Adel Cotton\u2019s son and co-defendant \u2013<strong> Heber Cotton<\/strong>, 39, of Los Angeles \u2013 plead guilty in November to one count of conspiracy to defraud the federal government. Heber Cotton is scheduled to be sentenced on June 6. He is facing up to 10 years in prison, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">According to Adel Cotton\u2019s plea agreement, beginning in December 2008 and continuing through March 2010, the Cottons caused at least 275 fraudulent income tax returns to be filed with the IRS. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Those fraudulent returns sought income tax refunds totaling more than $2.6 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">As part of the scheme, Adel Cotton obtained names and Social Security numbers of individuals without their knowledge and consent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"> Adel Cotton, with the help of others, prepared false Forms W-2 (IRS Wage and Tax Statements) in the names of the identity theft victims that reported false employment and income information, as well as false tax withholding amounts. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Using the falsified information reported on the Forms W-2, Adel Cotton and others prepared fraudulent individual income tax returns claiming false tax refunds. The tax returns were filed without the knowledge or consent of the identity theft victims.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cThis case is the latest involving stolen identity refund fraud, which victimizes both the United States and the individuals who have had their identities stolen,\u201d said <strong>U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker.<\/strong> \u201cIndividual victims of this type of fraud typically have to devote significant time and resources recovering their tax refund and protecting their identities from future fraud.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">In his plea agreement, Adel Cotton admitted that he and his son directed the IRS to mail the fraudulent refunds to addresses they controlled. The defendants then worked with two unidentified co-conspirators to deposit the refund checks using bank accounts opened in the names of the identity theft victims.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">In the prior case, Adel Cotton was one of 53 people convicted in relation to the \u201cOld Quest\u201d tax refund scheme that fraudulently sought more than $250 million in tax refunds<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Related Story to Tax Refund Scheme Click Here: \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-cdca\/pr\/final-defendants-quarter-billion-dollar-old-quest-tax-refund-scam-plead-guilty\">IRS<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The FBI and IRS conducted the investigation on the Cottons.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 63-year-old man who was serving a 27 month prison sentence for fraudulently filing tax refunds was given an additional two years behind bars for his role in another scheme that used stolen identities, according to officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,48,3],"tags":[454,362,1725],"class_list":["post-22143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-irs","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-fraud-tax-returns","tag-identity-theft","tag-irs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Man Who Stole IDs to File 275 Fraudulent Tax Refunds Gets Two More Years Added to His Prison Sentence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A 63-year-old man who was serving a 27 month prison sentence for fraudulently filing tax refunds was given an additional two years behind bars for his role in another scheme that used stolen 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