Hyattsville Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud

Baltimore, Maryland – Bruno Rodriguez, age 35, formerly of Hyattsville, Maryland pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the United States and money laundering.

The plea agreement was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Thomas Jankowski of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office.

According to his plea agreement and court documents, from November 2011 to May 2012, Rodriguez helped to file fraudulent tax returns using the stolen identities of Puerto Rican residents.  A co-conspirator who lived in Puerto Rico emailed Rodriguez the names, dates of births and social security numbers of Puerto Rican residents.  The emails appeared to be grouped by families and included minor children.  Rodriguez agreed to share a portion of the tax refunds with the co-conspirator.

Rodriguez gave the emails to his wife, Jennifer Rodriguez, who owned Latin Multi Services, a tax preparation service located in Silver Spring, Maryland.  Jennifer Rodriguez used the stolen identifying information to prepare tax returns that falsely listed the taxpayers as residents of Maryland and included fabricated income figures and deductions.

All of the returns requested refunds and listed bank accounts controlled by Rodriguez and his wife as the recipient bank account for the refunds. The fraudulent returns were electronically deposited into the bank accounts.

Over the course of the scheme, Bruno Rodriguez caused to be filed 291 false tax returns with the IRS, which resulted in the IRS paying $983,382 in refunds. Rodriguez has agreed to the entry of an order to pay restitution of $983,382.

Bruno Rodriguez faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States and 20 years in prison for money laundering. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz scheduled sentencing for January 5, 2016 at 10:30 a.m.

Jennifer Rodriguez, age 41, of Hyattsville, Maryland previously pleaded guilty to the fraud conspiracy.  She was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, and an order was entered that she pay restitution of $983,382.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the IRS – Criminal Investigation for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan E. Foreman, who is prosecuting the case.