BOSTON – Junior Albert Lopez, 30, of Dorchester, was arrested earlier today for allegedly perpetuating a stolen identity refund fraud scheme, officials announced.
Lopez’s arrest marks the latest success in Operation Point Break, a long-term investigation into thieves who use stolen identities to file for and obtain fraudulent federal income tax refunds. In a typical SIRF transaction, the SIRF conspiracy steals the identity of a U.S. citizen and files a fraudulent federal income tax return in his or her name, using false wage and tax-withholding data that, if true, would entitle the person to a sizeable tax refund, often worth thousands of dollars.
The fraudulent refund never goes to the identity theft victim, but rather to the SIRF conspiracy, either in the form of a paper U.S. Treasury check mailed to an address specified on the fraudulent tax return, an address that the SIRF conspiracy controls, or in the form of an electronic deposit onto a prepaid debit card owned by the SIRF conspiracy. The conspiracy then converts the fraudulent refund into cash.
Operation Point Break has targeted SIRF conspiracies for two-and-a-half years, resulting in the conviction of four bank employees who cashed SIRF checks or deposited them into co-conspirator’s bank accounts, and often falsified bank records to cover their tracks. Prior successes include the conviction of Cynthia Mansfield, a bank manager, who was sentenced to five years of probation, including 11 months of in a residential re-entry center, and full restitution for cashing 138 Treasury tax refund checks worth $993,158.
Lopez’s indictment alleges that he kept at his Dorchester apartment a USB flash drive that contained more than 700 individuals’ identity information, Employer Identification Numbers, and tax tables for creating false Forms W-2, and spreadsheets used to track the filing of fraudulent returns. The indictment also charges Lopez with possessing 27 prepaid debit cards found hidden in a wall at his apartment in February 2013, with making fraudulent purchases using two of those debit cards, and with using an identity theft victim’s name, date, and Social Security Number in relation to the scheme.
If convicted, Lopez faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000 on each of the indictment’s first four counts and a mandatory, two-year consecutive sentence on the final count. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Burzycki of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
Lopez’s arrest serves as a reminder of the dangers of stolen identity refund fraud and the importance of protecting one’s personal information. The IRS urges taxpayers to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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