July 23, 2001

REDLANDS MAN INDICTED IN TAX REFUND CASE
 A Redlands man who received an $861,841 refund check from the Internal Revenue Service last year has been charged with filing false income tax returns.
 Henry H. Fischer, 41, was indicted Friday afternoon by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. The indictment accuses Fischer of filing four false income tax returns, each claiming refunds of at least $860,000. The four false tax returns were filed for the years 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998. The total amount of refunds fraudulently sought by Fischer totaled $3,449,000.
 Fischer received the erroneous refund from the IRS in February 2000. Fisher deposited the check into a Bank of America account, but he never obtained access to the money because the bank refused to release the funds to him. The United States Attorney’s Office went to court to recover the funds, and United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips ordered that the funds be returned to the IRS.
 An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
 If he is convicted of all four counts in the indictment, Fischer faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison.
 This case was investigated by the Los Angeles Field Office of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

 Release No. 01-112

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