Hernando County Woman Sentenced To More Than Five Years For Stolen Identity Refund Fraud

Tampa, Florida – Senior United States District Judge Richard A. Lazzara sentenced Bertha Hart today to five years and ten months in federal prison for theft of government property. She pleaded guilty on May 11, 2015.

According to court documents, Hart was arrested by deputies from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office on November 1, 2012. Several prepaid debit cards, in other peoples’ names, containing fraudulent tax refunds were found in her possession. Hart later admitted to participating in a conspiracy involving federal tax returns and stolen identities. Hart allowed fraudulent tax filers to use her address to receive prepaid debit cards containing federal tax refunds. She also retrieved similar debit cards from other peoples’ mailboxes. Once these cards were in her possession, Hart delivered them to her co-conspirators, who removed most of the money from them. The co-conspirators later returned the cards to Hart with $1,000 to $2,000 remaining on them as her payment.

This case was investigated by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the United States Secret Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sara C. Sweeney.