Warren County, Kentucky, Resident Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison For Scheming With Others To File False Tax Returns In Order To Obtain Fraudulent Tax Refunds

Ordered to pay $731,293.52 restitution

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A resident of Bowling Green, Kentucky, was sentenced this week, by U.S. District Judge Greg N. Stivers, to 41 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $731,293.52 for mail fraud and for entering into an agreement to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by obtaining the payment of fraudulent claims, announced United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr.

According to the plea agreement, Fernando Diaz Herrera conspired with others between June 23, 2010, and August 8, 2012 to defraud the IRS and U.S. Department of Treasury, by obtaining false claims. Specifically, Herrera paid Mexican Nationals, who lived outside the United States, for their means of identification, including birth certificates, immunization records and voter cards. The defendant and others then used these documents to obtain Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN). Herrera then used the ITINs to prepare and file fraudulent federal income tax returns – which caused federal income tax refunds to be dispersed.

Herrera admitted to cashing the fraudulent refund checks at financial institutions and businesses in Kentucky. Further, for the purposes of executing the scheme, Herrera admitted to mail fraud when he caused a letter providing a falsely obtained ITIN to be sent from the IRS office in Austin, Texas, to an address in Bowling Green.

Herrera was charged by grand jury indictment, along with co-defendants Maria Chavez Salazar and Julio Ramos, on December 10, 2014.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda Gregory and was investigated by the United States Secret Service.