FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Monday, July 30, 2012
Docket #: 1:11-cr-00340 AWI

FRESNO, Calif. — Planada resident Rafael Duran Garcia, 26, pleaded guilty today to two counts of mail fraud and two counts of filing false claims for federal tax refunds, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to the guilty plea, from September 2007 to April 2009, Garcia caused 121 false federal income tax returns to be submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the names of third parties in a scheme to obtain tax refund checks. The tax returns were submitted to the IRS with W-2 Forms claiming false wage and withholding information, thereby making fraudulent claims for over $186,000 in federal tax refunds. The IRS suffered an actual loss of approximately $29,840 due to the scheme.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Sherriff is prosecuting the case.
Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced on November 13, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. by Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. The maximum statutory penalties are 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each mail fraud count, five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each false claims count, and up to three years of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

####

 

Return to Top