Two Charged with Conspiracy and Filing False Tax Returns in a Corporate Scheme Based in South Florida

WASHINGTON – Elmo Antonio George and Nasheba Necia Hunte were indicted today by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida on charges of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and with filing false tax returns for 2005 and 2006 which claimed false refunds totaling more than $1.2 million, the Justice Department and the IRS announced.

According to the indictment, between January 2003 and at least October 2008, George and Hunte conspired to defraud the IRS by, among other acts, incorporating and using Winco Holdings Inc. Winco had no employees and paid no money to employees for wages, and prepared and filed false individual, employment and corporate tax returns, as well as false promissory notes with the IRS. According to the indictment, George and Hunte also transferred ownership of property to each other and to corporate entities to conceal the proceeds of their fraud.

If convicted, George and Hunte each face a maximum of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and a maximum of three years in prison for each false tax return charge, for a total of 11 years. Each defendant also faces a maximum of $750,000 in fines.

An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Rebecca Perlmutter and Charles Edgar.