Four Portland residents, Jheraun Dunlap, Ernest Bagsby, Jermaine Moore, and Brandi McCall, have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a multi-year stolen identity tax refund scheme that defrauded the United States of over $1 million in tax refunds.
The scheme, which was uncovered by the IRS-Criminal Investigation, involved the filing of 208 false federal income tax returns that included fraudulent claims for tax refunds between $3,000 and $9,000 per return. Dunlap, 32, who was previously convicted of bank robbery, was sentenced to serve five years and five months in prison.
Bagsby, 37, who was previously convicted of delivery of heroin in Clackamas County, Oregon, was sentenced to serve four years and three months in prison. Moore, 34, was sentenced to serve three years and nine months in prison, and McCall, 27, was sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in prison.
All four defendants were ordered to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amount of $427,896. The scheme involved the use of stolen identities or identities obtained by Bagsby and Moore, which were then used to electronically file the false tax returns. McCall opened stored-value debit cards in her own name to receive the refunds.
According to court documents, the defendants directed the IRS to deposit the tax refunds onto stored-value debit cards, and then the proceeds were shared among the participants in the scheme. In total, as part of the scheme, the defendants requested more than $1 million in tax refunds.
All four defendants were captured on ATM footage withdrawing cash from stored-value debit cards that held the tax refund proceeds. The United States seized and forfeited assets traced to proceeds of the scheme, including a two-carat diamond engagement ring, a Mercedes Benz 500, and a 1971 Pontiac Firebird, both of which were purchased with $20 bills.
Acting U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams commended the special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation for their work in uncovering the scheme, and Trial Attorneys Leslie A. Goemaat and Lori A. Hendrickson of the Tax Division for prosecuting the case.
The case is part of the Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Task Force, which is a collaborative effort between law enforcement agencies to combat identity theft and tax refund fraud.
Related Federal Cases
- Bradley Steven Robinett, Bank Robbery, Oregon 2014 · Oregon
- Chae Sun Kim, Bank Fraud and Identity Theft, Oregon 2016 · Idaho
- Gerald Thomas Schram, Bank Robbery, Oregon 2023 · Washington
- Brandon Laster, Bank Robbery, Ohio 2012 · Washington
- Yuriy Viktorovich Vasilchuk, Financial Fraud and Cyber-Enabled Theft, Oregon 2023 · North Carolina
Key Facts
- State: Oregon
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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