Greenbelt, Maryland — A 51-year-old Olney man has admitted to orchestrating a brazen wire fraud scheme that netted him over $977,000 in fraudulent tax refunds. Mehlek Dawveed pleaded guilty today in federal court to filing fake income tax returns for 2010 and 2011, triggering a massive refund he siphoned from a Kansas City bank into his Maryland account.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Dawveed’s scam ran from 2011 through 2014. The fraud centered on falsified returns that falsely claimed massive tax overpayments. In one successful fraud, he received $977,558 — money he quickly funneled through wire transfers to accounts under his or his associates’ control. Among the expenditures: a full payoff of his Olney home mortgage, totaling $83,837, and a $250,000 deposit into a bank account linked to his wife.
Dawveed didn’t stop there. On February 18, 2012, he filed another fraudulent return — this time for 2011 — claiming a refund of $1,324,961. That request was denied. But in a bizarre follow-up, he filed an amended 2010 return on February 27, 2012, slashing his reported taxable interest from nearly $1.5 million to zero. Attached was a note laced with mockery: ‘we now beckon you to accept our humblest apology for the Unintentional Errors… not done with Malicious Intent.’
The amended return included a flat-out lie. Dawveed claimed he had submitted a $5 million payment to the IRS on January 31, 2012, ‘in hopes of settling the remaining Debt.’ No such payment was ever made. The IRS flagged the filing as fraudulent, initiating the investigation that ultimately unraveled his scheme.
Under the terms of his guilty plea, Dawveed now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel has scheduled sentencing for May 21, 2018, at 2 p.m. As part of the agreement, the court will issue a forfeiture order covering the entire $977,558 fraudulently obtained — as well as Dawveed’s Olney residence, which was paid off using stolen government funds.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly O. Hayes and Sean R. Delaney. Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Schenning praised the IRS for their relentless pursuit of tax fraud, calling the case a stark warning to those who exploit the system. ‘This wasn’t an error,’ Schenning said. ‘This was a calculated theft from the American taxpayer.’
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Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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