Police Officer Charged with His Brother in Alleged Tax Fraud

PHILADELPHIA—Brothers Jose Tirado, 38, and Victor Tirado, 36, both of Philadelphia, were charged by indictment, unsealed today, in a tax fraud conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. Jose Tirado, an officer in the 25th District of the Philadelphia Police Department, was arrested this morning.

According to the indictment, between January 2008 and March 2010, the two men obtained names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers of individuals, including children. In some cases, the brothers allegedly recruited the individuals to provide the identifying information. With that information, Jose Tirado allegedly prepared federal individual income tax returns that falsely and fraudulently inflated earned income amounts in order to obtain tax refunds that included Earned Income Tax Credits. In some cases, he listed false dependents on the tax returns. He then allegedly filed the false income tax returns with the IRS in electronic form using the TurboTax® computer software program and directed the IRS to deposit refunds generated from the false income tax returns to one of two Bank of America Bank Accounts. Jose Tirado and other individuals, known and unknown to the grand jury, received tax refunds issued by the IRS that were generated because of the allegedly false tax returns that were submitted. In total, $507,974 in false claims were submitted.

Each of the brothers is charged with conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims; Jose Tirado is additionally charged with 14 counts of false claims; Victor Tirado is charged with three counts of false claims.

If convicted of all counts, Jose Tirado faces a maximum statutory sentence of 80 years in prison, mandatory restitution of $407,787.94, up to five years of supervised release, a fine of up to $3.75 million, and a $1,500 special assessment; Victor Tirado faces a maximum statutory sentence of 25 years in prison, mandatory restitution of $407,787.94, up to five years of supervised release, a fine of up to $1,000 fine, and a $400 special assessment.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Philadelphia Police Department of Internal Affairs. It is being prosecuted by Ashley Lunkenheimer.