Category: IRS

Tuesday's Tax Day "Mail-Fishing" Arrests in Glen Ridge Believed to be Part of Larger Essex County Crime Ring

4/22/2018

by Carolyne Volpe Curley / Carolyne@WestEssexNOW.com
Published 9:11pm

GLEN RIDGE, NJ - Glen Ridge Police Chief Sheila E. Byron-Lagattuta announced the arrests this week of two individuals whom the Essex County Prosecutor's Office believe to be part of a larger crime ring across northern New Jersey.

Byron-Lagattuta explained that over the past year and a half, numerous Glen Ridge residents have reported mailed checks that were later found to be fraudulently deposited. The department's investigators believe that the checks were "fished-out" of local US mailboxes using household items such as shoe string, water bottles, and mouse trap glue.

On Tuesday, Apr. 17 - Tax Day - at about 2:40am, Glen Ridge Patrol Officers noticed a suspicious car near a US mailbox at the intersection of Ridgewood Avenue and Glen Ridge Parkway; a location which the department believes items were stolen from in the past.

According to the Chief, during a car search the officers found items commonly used for mailbox fishing along with "a large pile of mail stuffed under the passenger side door of the vehicle."

Officers investigated and discovered 24 pieces of mail which contained checks totaling over $116,000, the majority of which were being mailed to the IRS.

Two suspects were arrested and reportedly they later confessed to removing the mail from the mailbox.

The two were subsequently charged with:

Second Degree Theft
Second Degree Trafficking in Personal Identification Information
Fourth Degree Possession/Manufacture of Burglar’s Tools

The two individuals were transported to the Essex County Correctional Facility and their identities are not being released as the investigation is on-going.

Since Apr. 1, Glen Ridge Police have arrested a total of five suspects believed to be connected to the thefts.

Anyone with information is asked to contact:

Captain Sean Quinn
973-748-5400, ext. 113
spquinn@glenridgenj.org

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Raymundo Hernandez, 36, Sentenced to 27 Months Jail Plus Payback of $2.6 Million for his role in IRS Tax Refund Fraud

6/2/2015

NEWARK, NJ - Raymundo Hernandez, 36, of Bronx, NY, was sentenced to 27 months in prison today for pleading guilty to being the ringleader of a conspiracy that stole $2.6 million in United States income tax refund checks US Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Hernandez had previously pleaded guilty to the charge; he was sentenced by US District Judge Madeline C. Arleo in Newark federal court.

Stolen Identity Refund Fraud
Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) results in more than $2 billion in losses annually for the US and is a common type of fraud committed against the government. The schemes usually involve the following:

Scam-artists gather information regarding personal identification including Social Security numbers and dates of birth
Victims often reside in Puerto Rico
Scammers complete IRS-1040 tax return forms using the stolen information and then they falsify wages earned and taxes withheld to ensure the tax return will generate a refund
The refund checks are then mailed to the scammer's location
In some cases, mail carriers have been bribed to remove the refund checks from their mail routes
Tax refund is then deposited into the scammer's bank

Facts Gathered from Case Documents and Court Statements

From November 2010 through October 2012, Hernandez recruited and oversaw a team of conspirators who filed false income tax returns with the IRS in order to obtain refunds
The conspirators were located in Newark and the Bronx
Hernandez paid the group with the treasury checks he received fraudulently
Luis Pena, 32, of Bronx, was one of Hernandez' conspirators. Pena obtained at least 44 treasury checks for Hernandez and pleaded guilty to this role in March 2014
Also pleading guilty were mail carriers Gloria Rivera 40, of the Bronx, and Lourdes Ortiz, 42, of the Bronx who accepted bribes in exchange for delivering the fraudulent refund checks to Pena
The $2,659,718 worth of checks were deposited into bank accounts in the name of businesses the conspirators controlled; the proceeds were withdrawn in large amounts of cash
Three bank accounts were controlled by Hernandez who personally deposited $171,589

Some of the money was used to purchase cars and to gamble in Atlantic City

Penalties

Hernandez was sentenced to 27 months in prison along with three years of Supervised Release
Hernandez must pay restitution of $2,659,717.82 to the US government
Pena was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Oct. 16, 2014
Rivera was sentenced to six months in prison on Jan. 7, 2015
Ortiz was sentenced to three years of probation on Jan. 7, 2015

by Carolyne Volpe Curley / Carolyne@WestEssexNOW.com
Published 5:56pm

Investigative Team
Fishman credited the following in leading to today’s sentencing:

Special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen
Postal inspectors of the US Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Maria L. Kelokates
Special agents of the US Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Carl Agnelli
Special agents of the US Postal Service-Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Rafael A. Medina

Trial Representation
The US Government is represented by:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara F. Merin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark

The Defense counsel is made up of:

Roy Greenman Esq., Union, New Jersey

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Tuesday's Tax Day "Mail-Fishing" Arrests in Glen Ridge Believed to be Part of Larger Essex County Crime Ring

Raymundo Hernandez, 36, Sentenced to 27 Months Jail Plus Payback of $2.6 Million for his role in IRS Tax Refund Fraud

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