A Fort Lauderdale woman was convicted of heading an identity theft tax fraud scheme that netted $11 million in federal tax refunds and involved the filing of approximately 2,000 fraudulent tax returns, federal prosecutors said. Alci Bonannee, 36, of Fort Lauderdale, faces a prison sentence of up to 351 years as the primary leader in the identity theft ring, prosecutors said.(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
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REFERENCE-----Treasury Dept investigators estimate another $21 billion could make its way to ID thieves' pockets over the next five years. The IRS is detecting far fewer fraudulent tax refund claims than actually occur, according to a govt audit that warned the widespread problem could undermine public trust in the U.S. tax system.
Although the IRS detected about 940,000 fraudulent returns for last year claiming $6.5 billion in refunds, there were potentially another 1.5 million undetected cases of thieves seeking refunds after assuming the identity of a dead person, child or someone else who normally wouldn't file a tax return. In just one example, investigators found a single address in Lansing, Mich, was used to file 2,137 separate tax returns. The IRS issued more than $3.3 million in refunds to that address.
Florida, is the epicenter of the identity theft crisis (also involved in massive billion dollar Medicare/Aid fraud). Just three addresses in Florida filed more than 500 returns totaling more than $1 million in refunds for each address.......Florida was also the scene of a massive subprime mtge scam---with latinos colluding to bilk millions---leaving Americans holding the bag.
In another troubling scenario, hundreds of refunds were deposited into the same bank account—--a red flag for investigators searching for ID thieves--who may be filing for refunds for multiple people.
In one instance, the IRS deposited 590 refunds totaling more than $900,000 into one account.
SOURCE http://www.twincities.com/national/ci_21218839/irs-missing-billions-id-theft
Of course managing fines, penalties, and subsidies for the ACA will be easy.....