Mario Pascual Aquino, Theft of Public Money, CT 2024

Mario Pascual Aquino, 36, formerly of Torrington, Connecticut, admitted in federal court today to cashing over $1.4 million in stolen identity tax refund checks in one of the most brazen fraud schemes to hit the region in years. Aquino pleaded guilty to one count of theft of public money in Hartford federal court, capping a years-long conspiracy that exploited the personal data of unsuspecting victims, many of them Puerto Rican citizens.

Court records reveal Aquino was a central player in a network that funneled fraudulent U.S. Treasury tax refund checks through legitimate-seeming channels. Between October 2011 and March 2013, he personally cashed approximately $650,000 in stolen refund checks at a check-cashing outlet in Torrington. Not satisfied with that cut, he opened his own operation—Mega Money Transfers in Hartford—where he processed more than 300 fake refund checks totaling $750,926.

The scheme relied on stolen personal identifying information, often harvested from residents of Puerto Rico, to file false tax returns and intercept government-issued refund checks. Aquino didn’t just launder the fraud—he expanded it. In one audacious move, he sold six fraudulently obtained refund checks worth $60,929 to an undercover federal agent. He also handed over a counterfeit Connecticut driver’s license, forged in the name of one of his identity theft victims.

Aquino, who most recently lived in Pasadena, Texas, has been locked up since his arrest on May 31, 2016. With no bail granted, he’s remained in federal custody while awaiting sentencing. His operation spanned state lines and required coordination across multiple jurisdictions, highlighting the organized nature of what began as a local fraud but ballooned into a federal case of national concern.

He’s now set to face U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on April 6, 2017. The penalty? Up to 10 years behind bars, a fine approaching $2.9 million, and full restitution for every dollar stolen from the U.S. Treasury. The case has drawn intense scrutiny from law enforcement, underscoring how identity theft and tax fraud are quietly draining public resources.

The probe was led by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, with critical support from Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and local police in Waterbury, Hartford, and Pasadena, Texas. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarala V. Nagala is prosecuting the case, sending a clear message: stealing from the tax system won’t go unnoticed—or unpunished.