Kern County Resident Pleads Guilty In Fraudulent Tax Refund Scheme

FRESNO, Calif. — Federico Garcia Garcia, 45, of Arvin, pleaded guilty today to two counts of filing false claims with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in connection with a scheme to obtain tax refunds, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to his plea agreement, between October 2007 and December 2008, Garcia caused 147 false federal income tax returns to be submitted to the IRS in the names of third parties, in a scheme to obtain tax refund checks. The tax returns were submitted to the IRS with fabricated Form W-2s containing false wage and withholding information. Due to the scheme, approximately $308,317 was fraudulently claimed in federal tax refunds, and the IRS paid out approximately $79,932.

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 24, 2014, by United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. Garcia faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. 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.