Rochester Man Sentenced in Large-Scale Tax Refund Scheme

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Juan Marie Delvalle, 26, of Rochester, New York, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit tax fraud in connection with a large nationwide tax refund scheme, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge David G. Larimer to 12 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $1,644,202 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard A. Resnick, who handled the case, stated that from February 1, 2011 to October 31, 2011, Delvalle was involved in a scheme to obtain income tax refunds by the filing of fraudulent federal income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. Specifically, stolen identities were utilized to file the fraudulent federal income tax returns, and the wages and related tax withholdings reported on the federal income tax returns were fabricated in order to obtain the refunds. Most of the returns were filed in the names and Social Security numbers of individuals residing in Puerto Rico without their knowledge. Refund checks issued as a result of the fraudulent returns were sent to various addresses in Rochester and other locations in the country.

Approximately 600 federal returns with Rochester-area addresses were filed by a company in Bronx, New York. These 600 tax returns claimed tax refunds totaling $3,555,302, of which $1,644,202 was paid out by the IRS. The refund checks were sent by the IRS to various locations in the Rochester area. Delvalle participated in the scheme by retrieving many of the refund checks that were sent to Rochester and forwarding the money to individuals in the New York City area who were responsible for filing the false tax returns. The defendant was paid a fee for his participation in the scheme.

The sentencing is the culmination of a joint investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian P. Boetig, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, under the direction of Toni M. Weirauch, Special Agent in Charge.