Port St. Lucie tax preparer Ernst Pierre, 51, was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme to file false federal income tax returns using stolen identity information.
Pierre, who owned and operated Tax Max in Port St. Lucie, Fla., was charged with a scheme to file false federal income tax returns using stolen identity information.
According to the indictment and Pierre’s admissions as part of his guilty plea, from October 2009 through May 2011, Pierre filed false tax returns for clients of Tax Max.
Pierre obtained the names and Social Security numbers of relatives of clients for whom he had prepared and submitted federal income tax returns and then fraudulently used those names and Social Security numbers as “dependents” on other client tax returns and on his own tax return.
Pierre used these dependents to fraudulently inflate tax refunds, resulting in over $266,000 in restitution to the IRS.
Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, thanked special agents of IRS-CI, who investigated the case, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Justin K. Gelfand and Thomas J. Krepp, who prosecuted the case.
Ernst Pierre, Defendant’s Real Full Name, was sentenced on an exact date not specified, but the crime occurred from October 2009 through May 2011, and the sentence is 51 months in federal prison.
Pierre was ordered to pay over $266,000 in restitution to the IRS.
Related Federal Cases
- Nick Caty, Identity Theft and Tax Refund Fraud, Florida 2023 · Florida
- Sheldon Mozie II, Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Florida 2023 · Florida
- Marlan L. Copeland, Tax Refund Fraud, Florida 2010 · Florida
- Reginald Steele-Nelson, Identity Theft and Unemployment Insurance Fraud, Florida 2014 · Florida
- Vory V. Copeland, Tax Refund Fraud Scheme, Florida 2010 · Florida
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
White Collar CrimeWhite Collar CrimeWhite Collar CrimeWhite Collar Crime