Kern County Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud Scheme

FRESNO, Calif. — Ramon Gomez Garcia, 44, of Arvin, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with a scheme to submit hundreds of false federal tax returns in the names of third parties, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. His co-conspirator, Ramon Duran Gallardo, 56, of Planada, pleaded guilty to the same offense on August 12, 2015.

According to court documents, Garcia and Gallardo agreed with others to defraud the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by submitting false federal income tax returns in the names of third parties. The conspirators submitted the returns with false IRS Form W-2s showing fraudulent wages and withholdings. On the basis of these false tax returns and W-2s, the conspirators fraudulently claimed tax refunds in the names of the purported taxpayers. The conspirators caused over 500 false tax returns to be filed, and Garcia and Gallardo each admitted to causing over $100,000 in false claims to the IRS.

This case was the product of an investigation by Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Megan A. S. Richards and Kirk Sherriff are prosecuting the case.

Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced on November 23, 2015, and Gallardo is scheduled to be sentenced on November 16, 2015, by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill. Garcia and Gallardo face a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, 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.