Florida man admits to scheme to defraud the IRS, using taxpayer identities

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Juan David Moreno, of Miramar, Florida, has admitted to wire fraud and identity theft through use of a computer, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Moreno, age 33, pled guilty today to one count of “Wire Fraud” and one count of “Aggravated Identity Theft.” Moreno admitted to fraudulently accessing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) eAuthentication online taxpayer system, which has servers located in Berkeley County, from January 2015 to February 2017.  Through his scheme to defraud, Moreno obtained personal identifying information of taxpayers without their knowledge to access the online taxpayer system to obtain income tax transcripts for those taxpayers.  Moreno then filed tax returns and directed tax refunds in the amount of at least $86,525 be deposited in an account in Florida without the taxpayers’ knowledge.

Moreno faces up to 20 years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 for the wire fraud count, and two years incarceration for the aggravated identity theft count.  Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn M. Adkins is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Cybercrime Investigations Division investigated. 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.