Case Details from Orange County Federal Lawyer, Diane C. Bass
Short Description
- The indictment alleged that the company with whom the client was employed had filed thousands of false tax forms and reported to the IRS that more than $1,000,000,000 in fictitious federal income tax had been withheld or secured property had been acquired or abandoned, when in fact, no such amount of federal income tax had been withheld and no such amount of secured property had been acquired or abandoned. The company filed more than 400 false federal income tax returns with the IRS, which together fraudulently claimed more than $250,000,000 in false income tax refunds. As a result of those false federal income tax returns that the company filed with the IRS, the IRS erroneously issued millions of dollars in tax refunds.
- The client’s job was simply to collect information from the clients and pass it along to the person who filed the claims. He believed that the work that was being done by the company was completely legitimate.
Charges
- 1 8 U. S.C. § 286 Conspiracy to Defraud the United States with Respect to Claims;
- 18 U.S.C. § 287 : False, Fictitious, or Fraudulent Claims Against the United States;
- 18 U. S . C. § 2(a) and (b) : Aiding and Abetting and Causing an Act to Be Done
Location(City of Arrest, Filing, etc.)
- Riverside County/Santa Ana
Potential Sentence
- 14 years in federal prison
Interesting Details
- 18 defendants
- Lead defendants were convicted at trial and were sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.
Results:
Outcome Summary
- If convicted, the client could have faced a significant period of incarceration in federal prison. He could not take that chance as he has a family to support.
- He decided to accept responsibility for the fact that he was willfully blind to what was happening within the company. Willful blindness or “reckless indifference to the truth or falsity of a statement” is sufficient to establish specific intent under the statutes and pled guilty.
Sentence/Fines/Etc.
- The client pled guilty and rather than serving a prison sentence, they were sentenced to probation.
For more information on how Orange County fraud attorney, Diane Bass, can assist you, please contact us here, or call (949) 990-4195 for any of your Orange County criminal attorney needs.
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