Yonkers Resident Sentenced To 41 Months Imprisonment For Impersonating An IRS Officer In Furtheranceof A Fraudulent Tax Refund Scheme

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that JARED BREWTON was sentenced in White Plains federal court to 41 months in prison for his participation in a fraudulent tax refund scheme involving identity theft, subscribing to false and fraudulent tax returns, and impersonating an IRS employee and a New York State Department of Labor official. BREWTON pled guilty in July 2012 to a six-count Indictment before U.S. District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti, who also imposed today’s sentence.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “Jared Brewton concocted an elaborate charade in his efforts to steal thousands of dollars from the IRS. His substantial sentence should deter others who contemplate doing the same thing.”

According to the previously filed Indictment:

From about 2006 through about 2010, BREWTON engaged in a scheme to obtain fraudulent tax refunds from the IRS. BREWTON carried out this scheme by preparing and causing to be sent to the IRS various federal income tax returns – in his own name and in the names of others – that fraudulently inflated income and withholding figures. For example, BREWTON falsely reported that his wages for the calendar year 2006 were $783,981 and that $359,750 in taxes had been withheld by his employers. BREWTON also fraudulently obtained tax refunds in other people’s names by stealing the names or defrauding the people into giving him their personal identifying information, then filing fraudulent tax returns in their names, and directing that the resulting refunds be sent to his address.

To further the scheme, on at least one occasion BREWTON posed as someone affiliated with the New York State Department of Labor in order to persuade a taxpayer to provide him with the taxpayer’s name, date of birth, and Social Security number. On multiple other occasions, BREWTON posed as an employee of the IRS claiming to be an “Audit Group Representative” named “Susan Waters.”

Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

This case is being handled by the Office's White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. Collins, Jr. is in charge of the prosecution.