Hollywood Fraudster Pleads Guilty to $1M Identity Theft

Hollywood’s Judes Celestin, 36, has entered a guilty plea for orchestrating an identity theft tax refund scheme that bilked the IRS out of approximately $1 million. The fraudulent operation was carried out through two Florida corporations, JC Easy Tax, Inc., and Tax Filing Made Easy!, both under Celestin’s control.

Celestin faces up to 22 years in prison after being charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is set for August 13, 2014, before U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola.

According to the plea documents, Celestin caused false tax returns to be filed using stolen identities, having the refunds directly deposited into the bank accounts of his corporations. He then siphoned off the funds for personal gain.

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Wifredo A. Ferrer, commended the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) for their work on the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger.

For more information and related court documents, visit the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls, or the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.