Buffalo Woman Sentenced For Wire Fraud

CONTACT:    Barbara Burns     
PHONE:      (716) 843-5817
FAX:         (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Destinee McBride, 24, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, was sentenced to six months home detention and two years supervised release by Senior U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny. The defendant was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $59,077.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant was part of a scheme to defraud the government by obtaining money from the filing of false tax returns. McBride received the proceeds from one of the fraudulent tax returns which was filed with the Internal Revenue Service and for which the refund was placed on a prepaid debit card. The defendant used that card to obtain cash from an ATM and merchandise from private businesses. As a result of the scheme, losses to the Internal Revenue Service totaled $534,782.00.

This case is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal investigation Division under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen, and the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge, Boston Division.