Oniel Winston Scarlett, Stolen Identity Tax Refund Fraud, Florida 2011

A Palm Beach County resident has been sentenced to 48 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution for his participation in a stolen identity tax refund fraud conspiracy.

Oniel Winston Scarlett, 27, of Belle Glade, was sentenced to 48 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $188,570 for his role in the conspiracy.

According to court documents, Scarlett and his co-conspirators fraudulently obtained and exchanged amongst themselves the personal identifying information (PII) of other individuals, filed fraudulent income tax returns with the IRS using the stolen PII, and directed fraudulent refunds to be deposited onto pre-paid debit cards in the names of other individuals using the stolen PII.

The investigation began after a traffic stop on September 20, 2011, during which a Florida Highway Patrol trooper conducted a consent search of Scarlett’s vehicle and found a large amount of stolen PII, including 92 Wal-Mart pre-paid debit cards, printouts of hundreds of peoples’ PII, and more than 50 Palm Beach County School Board’s mainframe database printouts with students’ names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth.

Scarlett admitted that he had been recruited to help register pre-paid debit cards that were to be used to accept the fraudulent IRS refunds. He also admitted his role in agreeing to accept money for his role in helping complete the crime.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Carlton. The investigation was conducted by the IRS-CI and the Florida Highway Patrol.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the FHP. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Carlton.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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