California IRS worker sent to prison for filing fake tax returns. Here’s how she did it
A former Internal Revenue Service worker in Fresno was sentenced to six years in prison for filing phony tax returns using the stolen identities of young, at-risk adults, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott said Thursday.
The IRS employee, Marcela Heredia, 47, was found guilty on Dec. 12, 2019 of seven counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of making a false tax return.
Federal officials said the combined amount of attempted and actual tax loss was $55,246.18. Restitution was ordered to the IRS in the amount of $38,704.84, which was the actual loss.
How did she do it? Court records show Heredia worked at the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission’s Transitional Living Center while also working at the IRS as tax examiner between 2008 and 2014.
While at the Transitional Living Center, prosecutors said, Heredia stole the residents’ personal identifying information and used it to file numerous tax returns that included false wage and withholding information, false educational expenses, false dependent claims and other false claims.
Heredia then arranged to have those returns deposited into her personal bank account where she spent the money on various personal expenses. Heredia, who is from Riverside, failed to report any of the refund money she directed into her account on her 2011 tax return, federal officials said. Many of the residents at the Transitional Living Center whose personal information Heredia stole were young, at-risk adults. Many were former foster children who had aged out of foster care, or homeless and had nowhere else to go.
“Heredia spent three years taking advantage of vulnerable kids, stealing their personal information to get their tax refunds to spend on entertainment tickets, groceries, rental cars, restaurants, retail shopping, liquor stores, and other day-to-day expenses,” said U.S. Attorney Scott in a news release. “Today’s sentence reflects the serious nature of her conduct and serves as a warning to others.”
Kareem Carter, special agent in charge of the Oakland field office, said in a release, “Today’s sentencing should send a positive message to the American taxpayers that IRS employees are held to a high standard when working in a public position in order to safeguard and instill trust in the U.S. tax system.”
