To commit the fraud, the accused are said to have obtained Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) from the IRS using identification documents from Mexico, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. Those ITINs were then used to file fake tax returns, with refund checks mailed to P.O. boxes controlled by them.
Afterwards, authorities said, the checks were cashed at a BP gas station in College Park, just southwest of Atlanta, that also operates as a check-cashing business.
Falsified tax filings were major red flags
According to a U.S. attorney press release, the tax returns reported false withholdings and income, which led to further review by the IRS and partnering agencies. An employer typically deducts money from an employee’s wages and sends it to the federal government to cover their tax liability. If, at the end of the year, you’re deemed to have paid more than your fair share of taxes, you may be entitled to a tax refund from the IRS.
“Through extensive financial analysis and investigative efforts, investigators identified individuals who allegedly filed fraudulent tax returns, laundered the illicit proceeds and abused government programs for personal gain,” said Maisha Horton, acting special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office, in a statement.
On Oct. 14, the IRS raided the gas station as well as a Senoia home where two of the men were arrested, according to Atlanta News First. The third was apprehended in Fayetteville. The three men were arraigned on charges including mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.
For his part, the store owner told Atlanta News First that he was shocked at the IRS raid and didn’t know what the investigators were looking for.
The case was a joint operation by the IRS, the United States Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Atlanta case is part of a nationwide crackdown
The Atlanta case is part of a larger clamp down on tax fraud. On the same day the three men were arrested in Georgia, the Justice Department’s fraud division and the IRS Criminal Investigation team announced several other cases nationwide related to tax fraud — dating back to early September — as part of the first ever “National Tax Enforcement Surge.”
