Three Defendants Plead Guilty In Identity Theft Tax Fraud Schemes

SAN JUAN, P.R. – Defendants Gabriel Aquino-Camilo and Pedro J. Esteves-Rosa and defendant Samer Suboh-Kased plead guilty before United States District Judge Juan M. Pérez-Giménez to twenty counts, ten counts, and five counts, respectively, of theft of government property, announced Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

From December 2011 through May 2012, Aquino-Camilo gave Esteves-Rosa twenty (20) U.S. treasury checks totaling $138,912.43 that were fraudulently obtained by filing false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) using stolen identities of residents of Puerto Rico. Esteves-Rosa successfully deposited the checks into two business bank accounts that he controlled. The treasury checks were endorsed with the victims’ signatures, but each victim denied filing the tax return and endorsing the check.

From September through October 2012, defendant Suboh-Kased also received treasury checks that were fraudulently obtained by filing fraudulent tax returns with the IRS. He deposited these checks into his business bank accounts, without the authorization of the individuals whose names were on the checks, and then Suboh-Kased withdrew the money in cash. Suboh-Kased received a percentage for each check he deposited and another individual kept the remaining amount.

The cases were investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas W. Cannon. Esteves-Rosa and Suboh-Kased are scheduled to be sentenced on November 29, 2016. Aquino-Camilo is scheduled to be sentenced on December 15, 2016.