Aaron Aqueron, a Florida man, has been sentenced to 51 months in prison for his role in a nationwide tax fraud scheme.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Aqueron, of Clermont, Florida, recruited clients to the fraud scheme by convincing them that their mortgages and other debts entitled them to tax refunds.
Aqueron collected tax and financial information from the clients to send to co-conspirators, who prepared tax returns and other tax documents to submit to the IRS. These tax returns falsely claimed that banks and other financial institutions had withheld large amounts of income tax from the participants, thereby entitling the clients to a refund.
In total, the tax returns filed by Aqueron’s clients sought more than $14.6 million in tax refunds and caused the IRS to actually pay out more than $7.6 million.
As part of his plea, Aqueron admitted he and his co-conspirators received fees from his clients ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 each. Aqueron further admitted he did not report on his 2015 individual tax return the income he received from the scheme.
Aqueron also personally filed false tax returns for other years on which he fraudulently claimed that he was entitled to tax refunds. In response to one of these false tax returns, the IRS issued Aqueron a refund of $193,347.97.
Aqueron further admitted that, pursuant to the fraud scheme, he attempted to obstruct the IRS’s efforts to collect the tax refunds it issued to his clients. Aqueron and his co-conspirators coached clients on ways to obstruct IRS collection efforts.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, the district judge also ordered Aqueron to serve three years of supervised release and pay approximately $5.9 million in restitution to the IRS.
Related Federal Cases
- Elise Ellis, Tax Fraud Conspiracy, Florida 2023 · South Carolina
- Key West Tax Man Gets 18 Months for Fraud · Oklahoma
- Laura Butler Admits to Tax Fraud and Identity Theft, Jacksonville F… · South Carolina
- Nick Caty, Identity Theft and Tax Refund Fraud, Tamarac FL, 2023 · Oklahoma
- Marlan L. Copeland, Tax Refund Fraud, FL, 2023 · Idaho
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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