FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Thursday, May 10, 2012
Docket #: 1:12-cr-00106-LJO-DLB

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Roberto Olivares, 34, and Rojelio Martin, 30, both of Tulare, have been arraigned and pleaded not guilty to charges brought by a federal grand jury. On April 19, 2012, Olivares and Martin were charged with 79 counts of wire fraud resulting from their scheme to defraud clients of tax refunds.

According to the indictment, from January to May 2008, Olivares and Martin defrauded clients of Olivares’s businesses: Success Auto Insurance and Success Income Tax Services. Olivares and Martin prepared tax returns for their clients that showed a lower tax refund then they were entitled to receive. The defendants gave the incorrect return to the client, but filed the correct return that gave the taxpayers a higher refund amount. The defendants then took the difference between what was shown to their clients and the actual refunds amounts and used it for their personal benefit.

Olivares was arrested Tuesday, May 8, 2012, and was arraigned the same day. He is being held in custody pending the posting of a $20,000 cash and property bond. Martin was arraigned today and was temporarily detained by United States Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Beck pending a detention hearing on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 1:30 p.m.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stanley A. Boone is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Olivares and Martin face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, if convicted, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

The charges are only allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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