A Gary man has been
sentenced to six years in federal prison after he admitted filing phony tax
returns to obtain refunds totaling more than $700,000, the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the Northern District of Indiana said.
Michael Nash, 40,
was sentenced to 72 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised
release and ordered to pay $739,305 in restitution, after pleading guilty to
conspiracy to defraud the government and aggravated identity theft, the U.S.
Attorney’s Office said.
According to the
sentencing memorandum filed by the government, Nash “orchestrated a
well-planned scheme to steal from the federal treasury.”
The first phase of
that scheme was “working with others, including some of the tax filers,” to
file 191 false 2009 federal tax returns claiming a total of $595,170 in
refunds.
The second phase
went into effect when Nash “saw an opportunity”: stealing personal
information from his clients, which he subsequently used to file 87 false
2008 tax returns claiming a total of $314,696.
“The IRS rejected
about half of these (2008) returns because individuals had already filed
their 2008 tax return,” the memorandum states. “After receiving the refund
checks at his residence, (Nash) forged endorsements and kept the proceeds.”
Of the $314,696 which Nash claims in these 87 false returns, he actually
received $144,135.
The case was
investigated by the IRS’ Criminal Investigation Division.