Arnoldo Perez Mirabal, 42, is headed to federal prison for two years after admitting his role in a merciless IRS impersonation fraud scheme that terrorized 182 victims across the country. U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle handed down the 24-month sentence Thursday in Dallas, following Mirabal’s September 2016 guilty plea to wire fraud charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
As part of the court-ordered restitution, Mirabal must repay more than $97,000 to the scam’s victims—ordinary taxpayers who were ambushed by cold, threatening phone calls. The defendant has been locked up since his arrest in Miami in May 2016, when federal agents moved in on a criminal complaint originally filed in Dallas linking him to the nationwide fraud ring.
From November 2015 to April 2016, Mirabal or associates posed as IRS agents, bombarding unsuspecting citizens with urgent demands for immediate payment on phantom tax debts. Callers used fear as a weapon—threatening arrest, lawsuits, liens, and levies if victims didn’t comply on the spot. These weren’t casual cons—they were high-pressure operations designed to paralyze and extract.
One victim, identified as W.H., was targeted on November 5, 2015, by a caller using the fake name “Jake Davis,” who claimed a warrant had been issued for unpaid back taxes. With the threat of jail hanging over him, W.H. was told he needed to pay $1,000 immediately. When he said he only had $600, “Davis” instructed him to wire the amount to Arnoldo Perez Mirabal through MoneyGram.
W.H. complied, sending $600 from a Walmart in Bloomington, Indiana. Mirabal collected the cash in Richardson, Texas, using Walmart-2-Walmart as a financial conduit for crime. The scammer kept the line open, warning W.H. not to hang up—because doing so would be seen as defiance of a federal order. It was a lie from start to finish; “Jake Davis” had zero affiliation with the IRS.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Dana prosecuted the case, holding Mirabal accountable not just for the money stolen, but for the fear he helped spread—one call, one victim, one lie at a time.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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