Mario Pascual Aquino Sentenced

Mario Pascual Aquino, 36, formerly of Torrington, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a stolen identity tax refund scheme. The scheme, which involved cashing fraudulently-obtained U.S. Treasury tax refund checks, resulted in the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Aquino was involved in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain tax refund checks made payable to individuals other than themselves, whose personal identifying information was stolen by co-conspirators. Typically, the individuals whose identities were stolen were citizens of Puerto Rico.

Between October 2011 and March 2013, Aquino cashed approximately $650,000 worth of fraudulently-obtained tax refund checks at a check cashing store in Torrington. He also opened his own check cashing store in Hartford, Mega Money Transfers, and, in 2011 and 2012, proceeded to cash more than 300 fraudulently-obtained refund checks valued at a total of $750,926 through that store.

Aquino’s illegal activities did not stop there. He also sold six fraudulently-obtained refund checks valued at a total of $60,929 to an undercover agent. Additionally, he provided the undercover agent with a fraudulent Connecticut driver license in the name of an identity theft victim.

U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant ordered Aquino to pay restitution in the amount of $532,500. Aquino, who most recently resided in Pasadena, Texas, has been detained since his arrest on May 31, 2016. On January 5, 2017, he pleaded guilty to one count of theft of public money.

The investigation into Aquino’s activities was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Waterbury Police Department, Hartford Police Department, and Pasadena (Tex.) Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarala V. Nagala.

Aquino’s sentence is a significant victory for law enforcement and a warning to those who would engage in similar illegal activities. The sentence of 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, reflects the seriousness of the crime and the need to protect the public from identity theft and tax refund schemes.