Cape Girardeau Man Pleads Guilty on Fraud Charges

The United States Attorney's Office announced that Darnell Moon, age 30, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, pled guilty to five felony counts of Mail Fraud and one felony count of Wire Fraud. He appeared before United States District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig.

Moon admitted he solicited individuals to pose as employees of non-existent companies for the purpose of filing false tax returns and claiming fraudulent refunds. Moon created false W-2 forms for the purported employees in the names of the non-existent companies as the "employers." Moon would then either file or help the individual file a fraudulent tax return with the Internal Revenue Service. Based on the false tax return, the IRS would issue a tax refund that the individual would then split with Moon. These non-existent companies did not employ the individuals identified on the tax returns. Moon also falsely identified dependents for the individuals and also fraudulently claimed some of those dependents as qualifying children to obtain Earned Income Credit.

Moon pled guilty on April 26, 2018. His sentencing is set for May 23, 2018. Moon faces a maximum punishment of 20 years of imprisonment for each count and fines up to $250,000.

This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Paul W. Hahn handled the prosecution for the Government.