Florida Corrections Officer And Wife Sentenced For Tax Fraud And Obstruction

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell last month sentenced Kenneth Pointon (52) and Margaret Pointon (55), both of Orlando, to federal prison for making a false refund claim to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amount of $509,420. Kenneth Pointon, who was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, was also sentenced for obstructing the due administration of the Internal Revenue laws.  Margaret Pointon was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison. Both were also ordered to serve a 3-year term of supervised release, following their release from prison, and to pay $485,355 in restitution. Kenneth Pointon was a corrections officer at the Central Florida Reception Center at the time of the offense, which occurred in 2009.

Kenneth Pointon and Margaret Pointon were found guilty by a jury on October 3, 2013, following a three-day trial.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in 2008, Kenneth and Margaret Pointon participated in a scheme in which taxpayers report exaggerated amounts of taxable income and withholdings on their Forms 1040 and other documents, causing the IRS to issue improper refunds.

The Pointons followed this scheme by falsely reporting $827,646 in taxable interest, and $788,094 in inflated tax withholdings, on their 2008 Form 1040. In reality, the Pointons did not earn any taxable interest in 2008 and only earned $65,342 in taxable income. 

In response to their fraudulent tax forms, the IRS issued a refund check in the amount of $509,420 to the Pointons. In May 2009, the Pointons received the check and deposited it into a newly-created bank account in Dunedin, Florida. Within a span of five months, they made numerous transfers between bank accounts. The IRS Collection Division was able to recover only $24,060 of the refund received by the Pointons, resulting in a loss of $485,355 to taxpayers.

During the time period in which the IRS Collection Division was attempting to recover the refund, Kenneth Pointon sent several frivolous and obstructive documents to the IRS, in order to settle his tax liability and avoid liens and levies. 

This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney E. Jackson Boggs Jr.