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Bank robbery sideline derails successful tax scam

September 02, 2011

Sometimes the IRS gets a little help from its friends in law enforcement. From Times-Daily.com:

Sheriff Ronnie May said investigators discovered evidence of tax fraud while investigating the robbery of First Southern Bank in Ford City on Dec. 17, 2009, in which Denton was a suspect. Denton was convicted of the bank robbery in July and is awaiting sentencing.

"While looking into the bank robbery, our investigators learned of the apparent tax fraud and contacted the IRS, which then joined us in the investigation,” May said. “We worked with the IRS for more than a year putting this case together and tracking down all the false tax returns."

Based on court records, Denton obtained Social Security numbers and other identifying information from prisoners and used the information to file false tax returns. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud charges in August and is awaiting sentencing.

It sounds like he had a pretty good thing going, but got impatient with illegal tax refunds arriving in dribs and drabs.

The Moral: Don't file tax returns claiming illegal refunds. Especially if you are the impatient sort.

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