Frantz Pierre, Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, Minnesota 2013

MINNEAPOLIS—Four men have been indicted in federal court for their alleged role in a massive tax refund scam that claimed over $6.9 million in false refunds. The indictment, handed down May 21, 2013, charges Frantz Pierre, Ronnie Bussell, Christopher Torh, and Junior Tervil with conspiracy to defraud the United States.

According to the indictment, the four men conspired with others to file over 1,066 false tax returns, claiming refunds for which they were not entitled. The co-conspirators allegedly obtained the personal identifiers of other people and used that information to create false 2009 and 2010 federal income tax returns that claimed refunds.

The co-conspirators also created false W-2 forms showing fabricated amounts of earnings and tax withholdings. The defendants allegedly filed the false tax returns and had the refunds electronically deposited into bank accounts opened for fictitious businesses in Minnesota that were purportedly involved in the preparation of income tax returns.

The indictment alleges that Pierre, Bussell, Torh, Tervil, and others recruited others in Minnesota and elsewhere to do the same. The money was then laundered and used to purchase a residence in Parkland, Florida, according to the indictment.

If convicted, the defendants face a potential maximum penalty of ten years in prison on the conspiracy count. Pierre faces an additional potential maximum penalty of ten years on the money laundering count. Any sentence would be determined by a federal district court judge.

The case is the result of an investigation by the IRS-Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen B. Schommer.

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