Tax Fraud

January 20, 2016

A federal court in Rock Hill, South Carolina, ordered T-N-T of York County Inc. and TM Trucking of the Carolinas LLC, to stop violating their employment tax reporting, deposit and payment obligations. The government’s complaint alleged that T-N-T of York County and TM Trucking of the Carolinas together owed more than $2.7 million in federal employment and unemployment taxes for various periods from 2009 through 2014. DOJ

January 15, 2016

A resident of the District of Columbia was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his involvement in a far-reaching stolen identity refund fraud scheme in which he worked with others to obtain over $315,000 in income tax refunds through the filing of fraudulent federal income tax returns. Ezekiel Raspberry, 39, is among approximately 16 participants in this scheme who have pleaded guilty to charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The overall case involves the filing of at least 12,000 fraudulent federal income tax returns that sought refunds of at least $42 million. According to the government’s evidence, Raspberry participated in a massive and sophisticated stolen identity refund fraud scheme that involved an extensive network of more than 130 people. DOJ

January 5, 2016

A resident of Bowie, Maryland, pleaded guilty to federal charges for his involvement in a far-reaching identity theft and tax fraud scheme in which he assisted in the filing of fraudulent federal income tax returns seeking more than $4.4 million in refunds. The false tax returns sought refunds for tax years 2005 through 2013 and were often filed in the names of people whose identities had been stolen, including the elderly, people in assisted living facilities, drug addicts and incarcerated prisoners. DOJ

January 4, 2016

According to court documents and testimony at trial, Kevin Cyster, 52, of Burlington, Ontario, was part of a group of Canadian citizens that filed tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service that contained fraudulent Forms 1099-OID. On these tax returns, Cyster and his co-conspirators falsely claimed that nearly $10 million in federal income taxes had been withheld on their behalf by various Canadian financial institutions and paid over to the IRS. DOJ