Miami-Dade County Man Sentenced for Identity Theft Tax Fraud Scheme Involving the Unauthorized Use of Debit Cards

A Miami-Dade County man was sentenced to 24 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $5,855 in restitution, for his participation in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Paula A. Reid, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Duniel Gongora, 28, previously pled guilty to one count of using unauthorized access devices and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, from February 24, 2014 through March 4, 2014, Gongora knowingly used two debit cards that belonged to other people with the intent to defraud.  Gongora knew that both debit cards were funded with fraudulent tax refunds.  Gongora used the debit cards at various ATMs in Miami-Dade County and withdrew funds totaling over $1,000.  Gongora knew that the debit card numbers belonged to real people and that the victims did not authorize him to possess their personal information or to use debit cards in their names.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of FBI, IRS-CI, and USSS.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Snyder.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.