Nine Individuals Indicted in Two Fraudulent Tax Refund Conspiracies

WASHINGTON – Today, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ronald A. Cimino for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney S. Amanda Marshall for the District of Oregon and Special Agent in Charge Teri L. Alexander of Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-Criminal Investigation announced the unsealing of two indictments against nine individuals involved in two tax fraud schemes, each of which claimed more than $1 million in fraudulent tax refunds.

Four Portland Residents Indicted in a $1 Million Tax Refund Fraud Conspiracy

Jheraun Dunlap, Ernest Bagsby, Jermaine Moore and Brandi McCall were indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Portland for a federal tax refund fraud scheme.

According to the 45-count indictment, Dunlap allegedly filed at least 208 false individual income tax returns with the IRS, claiming more than $1 million in fraudulent refunds. The indictment alleges that Dunlap filed false tax returns using the names and social security numbers of other individuals, which he obtained directly and  received from the other defendants.  According to the indictment, Dunlap used numerous addresses obtained by Bagsby, Moore and McCall to receive stored-value debit cards loaded with fraudulent income tax refunds.

Dunlap, Bagsby, Moore and McCall were all indicted for conspiracy to defraud the government.  In addition, Dunlap was indicted on 23 counts of filing false claims for tax refunds, five counts of wire fraud and five counts of aggravated identity theft; Bagsby was indicted on one count of theft of government funds and one count of aggravated identity theft; Moore was indicted on two counts of theft of government funds and two counts of aggravated identity theft; and McCall was indicted on three counts of theft of government funds and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

If convicted, Dunlap faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the conspiracy to defraud the government, five years in prison for each false claims count, 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count and a statutory mandatory two year sentence in prison for the aggravated identity theft counts.  If convicted, he could also be subject to fines, mandatory restitution and a money judgment.  If convicted, Bagsby, Moore and McCall each face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the government, 10 years in prison for each theft of government funds count and a statutory mandatory two year sentence in prison for the aggravated identity theft counts.

This case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Task Force.  Trial Attorneys Leslie A. Goemaat and Lori A. Hendrickson of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

Five Individuals Indicted in a $1 Million Tax Refund Fraud Conspiracy

Lori Nicholson, Jasmine Mason, Tataneisha White, Shawntina Ware and Brandon Leath were indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Portland for a federal tax refund fraud scheme.

According to the 110-count indictment, Nicholson, Mason, White, Ware and Leath filed at least 227 false federal income tax returns with the IRS, claiming more than$1 million in fraudulent tax refunds.  The five defendants are alleged to have filed false tax returns using the names and social security numbers of other individuals obtained directly and through other defendants.  According to the indictment, the defendants used addresses that they could access or control to receive stored-value debit cards loaded with fraudulent income tax refunds.

Nicholson, Mason, White, Ware and Leath were all indicted for conspiracy to defraud the government.  In addition, Nicholson was indicted on 16 counts of filing false claims for tax refunds, three counts of wire fraud and 13 counts of theft of government funds; Mason was indicted on 18 counts of filing false claims for tax refunds, three counts of wire fraud and eight counts of theft of government funds; White was indicted on 12 counts of filing false claims for tax refunds, three counts of wire fraud and four counts of theft of government funds; Ware was indicted on eight counts of filing false claims for tax refunds, three counts of wire fraud and five counts of theft of government funds; Leath was indicted on six counts of filing false claims for tax refunds, three counts of wire fraud and four counts of theft of government funds.

If convicted, the defendants face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count, 10 years in prison for each conspiracy to defraud the government count, 10 years in prison for each theft of government funds count and five years in prison for each false claims count.  If convicted, the defendants could also be subject to fines, mandatory restitution, and a money judgment.

This case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Task Force.  Trial Attorneys Lori A. Hendrickson and Ryan R. Raybould of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

For both cases, an indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division website.

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