A Tamarac man has pleaded guilty to being part of a brazen identity theft tax refund scheme that raked in over $945,000 in stolen refunds.
Junior Thompson, 35, of Tamarac, Florida, admitted to conspiring with co-defendant Nick Caty to use stolen personal identity information to file 352 fake tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service.
The scheme, which ran from January 2014 to March 2014, saw the duo withdraw millions of dollars in cash from prepaid debit cards loaded with stolen tax refunds, according to court documents.
Caty, 44, of Tamarac, Florida, previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges stemming from the scheme, in which he used stolen personal identity information to file over 1,000 fake tax returns from 2012 to 2013.
Caty and Thompson agreed to share the proceeds from the scheme, which included loading debit cards with cash and transferring them between each other, according to court documents.
The scheme was uncovered in March 2014 when law enforcement executed a search warrant at the defendants’ business and residence in Broward County and found lists with over 4,000 individuals’ personal identity information.
Thompson is scheduled to be sentenced on February 13, 2015, and faces up to five years in prison for the unauthorized access device charge, as well as a mandatory two-year term for aggravated identity theft.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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