MIAMI – Two Broward County return preparers have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a sophisticated stolen identity tax fraud and treasury check cashing scheme.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson from the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Brian Swain of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Miami Field Office announced the sentence.
Peterson Jerome, 37, of Margate, was sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay $274,425.05 in restitution. Oldy Elisee, 42, of Miramar, received an 18-month sentence with the same conditions and restitution amount.
Jerome and Elisee operated Freedom Tax Plus Multi Services, Inc., a tax preparation business in Tamarac. They used stolen personal identifying information to file fraudulent income tax returns from February 19 to April 13, 2011, claiming nearly $274,000 in refunds.
The scheme involved Jerome cashing the fraudulent refunds at American Quick Cash (AQC) using fake Florida Driver’s Licenses. Jerome was also identified as a “middle man” in AQC’s check cashing operations involving stolen checks.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia E. Shick prosecuted the case, which highlighted the collaborative efforts of IRS-CI and USSS. More information on related court documents can be found at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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