Federal Inmate In Alabama Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud Perpetrated While In Prison

WASHINGTON – David Marrero, an inmate in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons serving a 10-year sentence for a Florida Medicare fraud scheme, pleaded guilty today in Montgomery, Ala., to filing a false claim for a $2,719,438 tax refund, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

According to court records, while serving a federal sentence in Montgomery County, Ala., Marrero began sending various false documents to the IRS and to the federal judge who had presided over his case. Among the documents he admitted sending were false money orders and false tax returns making claims for refunds. The false tax returns were based upon false IRS Forms 1099-OID that Marrero had fabricated claiming that various companies withheld a substantial amount of federal taxes from him when, in fact, the companies had withheld nothing. Marrero also used financial documents he had obtained from other people, without their knowledge or consent, as supporting documentation for his fraudulent claims.

Under the plea agreement, Marrero faces an additional 46 months in federal prison on top of the 10-year sentence he is currently serving. He also faces a maximum fine of $250,000. A sentencing date has not yet been set by the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Alabama.

This case was investigated by IRS – Criminal Investigation special agents. Trial Attorneys Justin Gelfand and Jason Poole of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

IRS Form 1099-OID schemes are one of the IRS’s “Dirty Dozen” tax scams for 2012. Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax.