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Danyelle Calcagno, 72 Months for Tax Conspiracy
A Portland woman has been sentenced to 72 months in prison for her role in a massive tax fraud scheme that swindled the IRS out of over $1.2 million.
Danyelle Calcagno, 72, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Jones for conspiring to file at least 224 individual income tax returns using names and social security numbers of individuals she obtained or acquired with the assistance of Latisha L. Simmons of Phoenix, Arizona.
According to court documents, Calcagno included fictitious business income in the returns to fraudulently claim the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit. The scheme was so brazen that she used internet access from Portland-area hotels to disguise the true source of the filings.
Calcagno directed the IRS to deposit the claimed refunds into different bank accounts and prepaid debit cards that she could access in order to divide the proceeds of the fraud and make it more difficult for law enforcement to identify her as the filer of the returns.
In total, Calcagno and her co-conspirators filed returns seeking at least $1,220,246 in refunds. Calcagno was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution in the amount of $742,754 to the IRS.
Calcagno previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government, aggravated identity theft, and wire fraud. In October 2015, Simmons was sentenced to serve 39 months in prison for her role in the scheme.
The investigation was conducted by special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Leslie A. Goemaat of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Quinn Harrington.
Key Facts
- State: Oregon
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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