Judy Lynn McCune, Tax Fraud Scheme, Texas 2013

Three family members have been ordered to prison for conspiring to defraud the federal government in a scheme to prepare federal tax returns and cash refund checks in the name of deceased individuals, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agent in Charge Lucy Cruz.

The three women, Judy Lynn McCune, Loretta Ann McCune, and Rania Ann Sanchez, entered guilty pleas in April 2013. U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen accepted their pleas and handed down sentences.

Judy Lynn McCune, the mastermind behind the scheme, was sentenced to 57 months in prison. Her mother, Loretta Ann McCune, received a 20-month sentence, while her sister, Rania Ann Sanchez, will serve 24 months.

The court also ordered the payment of restitution in the amount of $223,098 to the IRS. The trio will be required to serve a term of three years of supervised release following completion of their prison terms.

The scheme involved obtaining Social Security numbers and dates of birth for deceased individuals through the Internet and then filing both paper and electronic federal income tax returns using the identifiers of these deceased individuals. The refunds were directly deposited in the personal bank account or mailed to the personal addresses of the accused.

The total scheme consisted of approximately 340 false claims totaling $763,124 in filed false claims. Judy Lynn McCune admitted to recruiting members of her family, including her mother and sister, into the scheme.

Robert and Edward Gutierrez, Judy Lynn McCune's sons, are also charged in relation to the scheme and have both pleaded guilty to filing a false income tax refund claim. They are pending sentencing.

The case was investigated by IRS-CI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen Betancourt. Judy Lynn McCune is set to surrender on August 27, 2013, to begin serving her sentence. Loretta Ann McCune and Sanchez were permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/family-run-tax-fraud-scheme-sends-three-prison