Eldrick Wendell Wooding, Sr., Tax Refund Fraud, Florida 2020

A seventh defendant has been sentenced in a multi-million dollar tax refund scheme in the Southern District of Florida.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Michael J. De Palma, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office announced the sentencing of Eldrick Wendell Wooding, Sr.

Wooding, 64, of Opa Locka, Florida, was sentenced to 46 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay joint and several restitution of $107,421 to the IRS.

The scheme involved the filing of fraudulent income tax returns containing false W-2Gs, claiming false gambling winnings, withholdings, and losses, and seeking large-dollar tax refunds. Wooding conspired with Freddie Howard to defraud the United States by preparing and submitting false and fraudulent federal tax returns and other tax-related documents to the IRS in order to induce the IRS to disburse tax refunds to which he was not entitled.

In October 2019, a jury found Wooding guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daya Nathan and Eli Rubin.

Six other defendants were previously sentenced in the Southern District of Florida in relation to filing fraudulent income tax returns containing false gambling information. These fraudulent returns included a fake Form W-2G claiming gross gambling winnings and federal tax withholdings on the winnings.

On August 28, 2018, Anthony Dwight Charles Box, 57, of Plantation, Florida, was sentenced to 36 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution of $988,175 to the IRS.

On May 1, 2019, Gerald Jerome Spate, 50, of Miramar, Florida, was sentenced to 24 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay joint and several restitution of $421,684.50 to the IRS.

On April 26, 2019, Jean Daniel Julien, 38, of Lauderhill, Florida, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay joint and several restitution of $1,547,197 to the IRS.

On May 15, 2019, Ralph Dorsainvil, 63, of Boca Raton, Florida, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay joint and several restitution of $335,466.72 to the IRS.

On November 20, 2019, David Sage, a/k/a 'Nima Nafei,' 40, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay joint and several restitution of $278,149 to the IRS.

On July 24, 2019, Ron Pinke Leonard, 53, of West Palm Beach, Florida, was sentenced to four years of probation, and was ordered to pay joint and several restitution of $52,542.85 to the IRS.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/seventh-defendant-sentenced-million-dollar-tax-refund-scheme