North Miami Beach Resident Convicted In Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud Scheme

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Donnell Young, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), and J. Scott Dennis, Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department, announce that Paul Borgella, 35, of North Miami Beach, was convicted by a federal jury of three counts of theft of government funds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641, for his participation in a stolen identity tax refund fraud scheme. Sentencing is scheduled for December 3, 2014, before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke. Paul Borgella faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison.

Co-defendant Carl Borgella, 32, of North Miami Beach, previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to steal tax refunds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, and one count of theft of government funds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 641 and 2. Carl Borgella was sentenced on June 11, 2014 to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution of $288,044.21.

According to records filed in this case and statements made in court, in 2011, Carl Borgella and Paul Borgella each opened a business bank account for “TRCJ Asset Services,” a company incorporated in Florida listing Carl Borgella as the president and Paul Borgella as the vice president. From January 2011 to September 2011, the defendants used the bank accounts to receive over 300 fraudulently obtained United States Department of Treasury tax refunds via Electronic Funds Transfers. All of the tax refunds deposited into the bank accounts were issued as a result of fraudulent tax returns that contained materially false information and were filed using stolen personal identifying information. During the course of the conspiracy, the bank accounts received fraudulently obtained tax refunds totaling over $400,000. The defendants would then withdraw money from the bank accounts and use the money for their personal expenses by making ATM withdrawals, debit card payments, and issuing checks.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, the USSS, and the North Miami Beach Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vanessa Snyder, Cristina M. Moreno and Amanda Perwin.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.