WALDA LUNA, 46, and PERFECTO RUANO, 57, both of Wallace, North Carolina, are headed to federal prison after being sentenced for a brazen $3 million tax fraud scheme that exploited stolen identities and fake payroll records. On November 15, 2016, Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever III handed down prison terms and ordered the couple to pay $2,989,520 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. The court also issued a forfeiture order for $1,789,520 seized during a traffic stop in Arkansas in May 2014, along with four properties in Duplin County tied to the fraud.
The duo pled guilty on June 20, 2016, to conspiracy to file fraudulent income tax returns using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers—meant for non-citizen residents earning income in the U.S. But LUNA and RUANO weaponized the system. They fabricated W-2 forms and falsified employment records, claiming wages and withholdings from employers that never existed. The individuals listed as workers never earned the income, never paid the taxes, and in many cases, never even existed.
Using five post office boxes and four physical addresses across Duplin County, the couple funneled hundreds of fraudulent IRS refund checks through a network of mail drops. Their goal: siphon millions from the U.S. Treasury by gaming one of the most exploited loopholes in the tax code. The scale of the operation exposed weaknesses in verification systems and the high profitability of refund fraud for organized criminals.
RUANO was sentenced to 57 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. LUNA received a harsher 81-month sentence after pleading guilty not only to the conspiracy but also to filing a false individual income tax return and aggravated identity theft—fraudulently claiming two people as dependents to inflate her refund. As a non-U.S. citizen, LUNA will face deportation upon release.
“Refund fraud and identity theft are serious problems that victimize all law-abiding taxpayers as well as individual victims,” said United States Attorney John S. Bruce. He credited the collaborative takedown to IRS-Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office—agencies that spent months tracking the flow of fake returns and illicit cash.
IRS Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Holloman III emphasized that the sentences “show how seriously the courts take federal tax crimes.” ICE Homeland Security Investigations’ Nick S. Annan added that crimes like this “not only steal directly from hard-working taxpayers but also pose a serious threat to national security by introducing forged and fraudulent identity documents.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan B. Menzer prosecuted the case for the government.
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Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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