June 14, 2017

A Canadian man pleaded guilty in Rochester, New York to conspiring to defraud the United States and commit theft of government funds, announced the Justice Department’s Tax Division. According to documents filed with the court, Timothy Johnston, 36, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, along with other Canadian citizens, participated in a scheme to file fraudulent claims for refund with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In March 2009, Johnston filed a fraudulent nonresident alien income tax return seeking a refund of $642,947.26. On this return, Johnston falsely claimed that the requested refund represented the amount of income taxes that had been withheld and paid to the IRS on his behalf. After the IRS issued the refund to Johnston, he entered the United States and opened a bank account in Rochester, New York to deposit the fraudulently obtained check. Between August 2009 and December 2011, Johnston caused funds to be transferred from this account to a bank account in Canada and accounts in the United States in the names of his co-conspirators. DOJ

Tagged in: Tax Fraud,