Yanira Lopez, Tax Refund Scam, Pennsylvania 2015

A Chester Springs couple has been sentenced for operating a tax refund scam involving stolen hospital patient information.

Yanira Lopez, 29, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for a tax fraud and identity theft scheme in which she and her husband, Rafael Henriquez Polanco, sought more than $1.7 million in fraudulent tax refunds.

Polanco, 32, was sentenced on February 17, 2015 to 51 months in prison for numerous fraud and narcotics offenses.

In addition to the prison terms, U.S. District Court Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg ordered three years of supervised release for each defendant, restitution totaling $447,299 for Lopez and $409,779 for Polanco, and special assessments of $500 and $600, respectively.

Lopez and Polanco both pleaded guilty to tax fraud, passport fraud, aggravated identity theft, and presentation of an immigration application containing a false statement. Additionally, Polanco pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base, and Lopez pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

Between January 2008 and September 2011, Polanco and Lopez obtained the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of patients of Community Hospital in Chester, Pennsylvania and Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pennsylvania, by paying employees of the hospitals to steal confidential medical forms.

Polanco and Lopez then utilized the stolen identities to file fraudulent individual income tax returns with the IRS claiming fraudulent refunds. In support of the false returns, the defendants submitted phony Forms W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) and listed one of several return addresses in Chester, Pennsylvania, or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which addresses the defendants controlled.

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