Daniel White Gets 7 Years for Stolen Tax Refund Scheme

Winter Haven resident Daniel White is headed to federal prison for seven years after orchestrating a brazen tax refund fraud scheme using stolen personal identity information from at least 39 people—24 of whom were already dead when he filed fake returns in their names. U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday handed down the sentence in Tampa, Florida, ordering White to pay $320,703.84 in restitution to the U.S. Treasury.

White was convicted in August 2012 but vanished before sentencing, living as a fugitive for four years. In July 2016, Polk County law enforcement officers found him hiding inside an air conditioning return duct at a home. He was taken into custody without resistance, ending a years-long manhunt tied to one of the more audacious refund fraud operations in recent West Central Florida history.

Court records show that between May 2011 and October 2011, White used stolen PII to create and file fraudulent federal tax returns, instructing the Internal Revenue Service to deposit refunds directly into a bank account he controlled. The total intended loss to the government was a staggering $737,588—more than double the actual damages recovered.

The scheme preyed on vulnerability. Many of the identities lifted belonged to elderly individuals and deceased persons, whose lack of digital activity made them ideal targets for exploitation. By the time the IRS flagged the returns, White had already siphoned hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars meant for legitimate filers.

The investigation was led by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service, agencies that have increasingly teamed up to combat identity-based tax fraud. Prosecutors Kristen A. Fiore and Amanda Kaiser of the U.S. Attorney’s Office secured the conviction and pushed for full restitution and maximum prison time.

Daniel White’s seven-year sentence sends a hard message: stealing from the federal government under the cover of dead men’s names may seem clever—but in the end, the feds always come calling.

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