Jude Estama, Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud, Florida 2023

A Pembroke Pines resident has been sentenced to 87 months in prison for his role in an identity theft tax refund fraud scheme.

Jude Estama, 42, was found guilty of one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, Estama engaged in the scheme from January 2008 through August 2012 by opening and controlling bank accounts at various banks in his own name and in the name of two corporations that listed him as president.

Estama caused fraudulent individual income tax returns to be filed with the IRS using the identity information primarily of high school students and deceased persons. He caused over $700,000 in refund monies to be direct deposited to the bank accounts he controlled, and he withdrew money from these refunds for his own personal use and benefit.

Estama was ordered to pay $759,992 in restitution as part of his sentence.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger, and the investigative efforts of IRS-CI were commended by U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Jude Estama, a resident of Pembroke Pines, Florida, was sentenced to 87 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release.

The exact date of the crime was not specified, but it is known that Estama engaged in the scheme from January 2008 through August 2012.

The defendant’s full name is Jude Estama, and he is a resident of Pembroke Pines, Florida.

The exact criminal charges against Estama are one count of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.

The mandatory facts include the defendant’s full name, the city and state where he resides, the exact date of the crime, the sentence or outcome, and the dollar amounts where applicable.

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