Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Gary man sentenced to six years for defrauding IRS of $700K in tax refunds

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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.

 

 

Posted 5/20/2015

 
 

 

 

 

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