July 21, 2016
A Montgomery County, Alabama, resident was sentenced to 48 months in prison for her role in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme, announced the Justice Department’s Tax Division. Wendy Huff, 32, admitted that between January 2013 and August 2015, she worked at two loan companies in Montgomery, Alabama, and had access to the personal identifying information of customers. Huff agreed to steal information from her employers and provide it to her co-conspirator James Vernon Battle, 31. Battle used that information to file over 335 returns claiming more than $400,000 in fraudulent refunds and directed the requested tax refunds to prepaid debit cards and U.S. Treasury checks, which were mailed to addresses in Montgomery, including Huff’s residence. Battle also brought several U.S. Treasury tax refund checks to Huff’s workplace where she used her position to cash them. Huff returned half of the proceeds to Battle and kept the balance for herself. DOJ
Tagged in: Tax Fraud,