Related Federal Cases
- Sylvester Gets 3 Years for $447K Tax Refund Scam · Kansas
- Susanville Prison Tax Scam Lands Oklahoma Men in Hot Water · Oklahoma
- Sacramento & Stockton Men Nabbed in Tax Refund Schemes · California
- Sacramento Trio Admits to Nearly $1 Million Tax Refund Scheme · California
- Campbell Home Health CEO Shane Brightpath Mike Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion Scam · California
$41M Tax Refund Scam: Last Defendant Pleads Guilty
A licensed tax return preparer has pleaded guilty to filing more than $41 million worth of false claims against the United States, making her the 53rd and final defendant linked to the quarter billion dollar ‘Old Quest’ tax refund scheme to be convicted.
Alma M. Wilbur, 40, of Victorville, pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of making a false claim against the United States. Wilbur admitted that in May 2009 she filed a false federal tax return in her name that sought a refund of $281,146. When she pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton, Wilbur also admitted that she prepared more than 70 false tax returns that fraudulently claimed more than $41 million in bogus tax refunds.
The scheme, run out of the Fontana-based Old Quest Foundation, was the largest tax refund fraud in history involving misuse of Original Issue Discount tax forms. The case against Wilbur and the other Old Quest defendants stems from Operation ‘Stolen Treasures,’ an investigation conducted by Special Agents with IRS – Criminal Investigation that led to 55 people being indicted by a federal grand jury in the fall of 2011.
Old Quest and a related business – the Rancho Cucamonga-based De la Fuente and Ramirez and Associates (DLFRA) – prepared and filed more than 400 false income tax returns that together claimed more than $250 million in fraudulent tax refunds.
As a result of these convictions, Wilbur faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison when she is sentenced by Judge Staton on February 13, 2015. Many of the other Old Quest schemers have been sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment, including Old Quest CEO Arturo S. Ruiz, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison, and DLFRA owner Osman Norales, who was sentenced to 87 months in prison.
Wilbur’s guilty plea brings an end to a massive tax refund scheme that began to unravel in 2011. The convictions secured in this case demonstrate the IRS’s commitment to identifying and prosecuting tax refund scams, and to ensuring that those who engage in these crimes are held accountable for their actions.
Prosecutors secured 53 convictions in the case, with nine defendants found guilty at trial and 44 pleading guilty. One defendant remains a fugitive, and one defendant was acquitted. The investigation was led by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
