In a brazen scheme that saw over $1.9 million stolen from innocent taxpayers, a family of eight has been handed prison sentences ranging from 8 months to 57 months in the Middle District of Alabama. The conspiracy, which spanned six years, involved the Murry family and their associates, who used stolen identities to claim false tax refunds and split the loot among themselves.
Barbara Murry, Veronica Temple, and Yolanda Moses each received a sentence of 57 months of incarceration and were ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,908,659. Douglas Murry received a sentence of 24 months of incarceration and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $142,038. Almetta Johnson received a sentence of eight months home detention. Lee Moses, Jeffrey Temple, and Courtney Johnson each received a sentence of probation.
The scheme, which began in 2006 and continued until 2012, saw the defendants and their co-conspirators direct over 900 false tax refunds claiming in excess of $1.9 million to several bank accounts controlled by the defendants and their co-conspirators. According to court documents, the conspiracy consisted of two parts. First, the defendants received false tax refunds into their bank accounts and provided a portion of the funds to the third-party preparers. None of the defendants obtained the identities or prepared the tax returns in this part of the conspiracy.
The second part of the conspiracy centered on B & B Weaving Shop and B & B Tax Service. Barbara Murry owned and operated B & B Weaving Shop, located in Montgomery, Alabama. B& B Weaving Shop was located in the same building as B & B Tax Service. Barbara Murry’s daughters, Yolanda Moses and Veronica Temple, ran B & B Tax Service. Veronica Temple and her sister, Yolanda Moses, obtained stolen identities from multiple sources. Veronica Temple, Yolanda Moses, and others filed false tax returns from both B & B Tax Service and their homes and directed the tax refunds to numerous bank accounts controlled by the defendants and their co-conspirators.
The victims of this scheme were innocent taxpayers who had their identities stolen and used to claim false tax refunds. Many of the identity victims were 16 and 17 year-old minors. The Justice Department and the IRS have vowed to investigate and prosecute stolen identity refund fraud crimes to the fullest extent of the law.
Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally said, “The Justice Department will investigate and prosecute stolen identity refund fraud crimes, whether they are committed by a single thief, or a ring of thieves.” Richard Weber, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation, added, “Individuals who commit identity theft and refund fraud of this magnitude deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
The case was investigated by special agents of IRS – Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Jason H. Poole and Michael Boteler, and Assistant United States Attorney Jared Morris.
Related Federal Cases
- Tanya Rice and Nancy Romeo, Hospice Care Fraud, Alabama 2023 · Alabama
- Sidney L. Hall, Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Georgia 2012 · Georgia
- Kimberly Michelle Banks, Identity Theft Tax Fraud, Georgia 2023 · Georgia
- Christopher Guilford, Tax Refund Scheme, California 2025 · Virginia
- Daniqua Clark, Mail Stream Theft and COVID-19 Relief Fraud, Georgia 2023 · Georgia
Key Facts
- State: Alabama
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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