Written by
WKYC Web Staff
CLEVELAND -- A ten count indictment has been filed charging six people for obtaining tax refunds by filing in the names of recently deceased taxpayers.
The indictment accuses the group of attempting to defraud the Internal Revenue Service of $1.7 million.
According to the indictment, the six filed false and fraudulent tax returns between April 2009 and August 2011 for dead taxpayers and directed the refunds to locations in Florida.
The refund checks issued by the Treasury Department on the false returns would then in turn be mailed to other co-conspirators in Ohio.
"The theft of anyone's identity is a serious offense, but stealing the identities of the recently departed to defraud all the other taxpayers is particularly egregious," said Steven M. Dettelbach, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
The six face charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States, mail fraud and identity theft.
WKYC-TV