Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 2-5-16 (2)

Tax Fraud Cases
Indictment Links Purchases To Former Tampa Police Officers
ERIC HOUSTON
On Tuesday the U. S. Attor- ney’s Office released a super- seding indictment linking two former Tampa Police employ- ees to a federal income tax scam. The indictment also out- lines several items that were allegedly purchased with the ill-gotten gains.
The indictment provided information to a paper trail ranging from fraudulent in- come tax forms filed from the home of Eric and LaJoyce Houston to purchases made. It also outlines deposits and withdrawals from their per- sonal bank account.
Both are charged with the theft of government property, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Prior to his termination, Eric Houston was a detec- tive in the Homicide Squad. LaJoyce Houston was a Ser- geant with the department.
Both were terminated from the department.
The indictment alleges that both Eric and LaJoyce Houston used their positions of authority to access sensitive and personal identifying infor- mation and then forward it to others for the purpose of com- mitting tax fraud.
Investigators jewelry, a
LaJOYCE HOUSTON
MacBook Pro, an iPad, and other items, partially pur- chased with fraudulent income tax refunds linked the couple to Ms. Rita Girven, a Tampa woman currently serving 12 years in prison for income tax fraud.
An informant for the Tampa Police Department, Ms. Girven was the birth mother of a child the Hous- tons adopted, as well as a family friend.
As part of her sentencing, Ms. Girven was court or- dered to repay the Internal Revenue Service more than $2 million.
Investigators said many of the debit cards and bank ac- counts involved in the case bore the home address or name of Ms. Girven.
Officials said the Hous- tons were further implicated in the scam because an unidentified individual made six successive ATM cash de- posits in the joint account of Eric and LaJoyce Houston at the GTE Federal Credit Union. The deposits were made on March 12, 2011.
Other cash deposits into the Houstons’ accounts made that day totaled $9,566.86.
RITA GIRVEN
Additionally, on the same day, someone paid off credit cards at J. C. Penney, for ap- proximately $849.98, and $1,440 to Sears to clear the balance on a credit card be- longing to LaJoyce Houston and $652 at Best Buy on an ac- count belonging to Eric Houston, officials said.
Officials further stated that on February 1, 2012, a money order in the name of Ms. Houston was purchased in Seffner with fraudulent in- come tax funds. It was made payable to Ms. Houston and listed Ms. Girven as the pur- chaser.
The following day, some- one purchased a money order in the amount of $1,000 with fraudulently obtained funds on a GreenDot card. The money was deposited into the Houstons’ GTE account. An additional money order, in the amount of $800, was pur- chased the same day using a GreenDot card to pay for it. The money order was made payable to LaJoyce Hous- ton, officials said.
The documentation also showed that some of the tax refunds filed used the home address of Ms. Houston’s fa- ther.
Jury Convicts Tampa Man Of Tax Fraud
Last week, a federal jury convicted a Tampa man of fed- eral income tax fraud. He was indicted a year ago.
Frazier Williams, Jr.,
was found guilty of willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a tax return that he knew was false and fraudulent.
Evidence presented at his trial showed that Williams was an officer of Aztech Energy Corporation. Williams as-
sisted in the preparation of a federal corporate income tax return for the company that fraudulently inflated the amount of fuel tax credits the corporation was entitled to re- ceive. The inflated amount was more than $2 million, officials said.
Williams is facing a maxi- mum penalty of three years in prison. His hearing for sen- tencing has been scheduled for April 14, 2016.
Hearing Date Set For Ex-Police Worker In Tax Fraud Case
A hearing date for the plea agreement for a former Tampa Police Department employee accused of participating in an income tax fraud scam. She will make an appearance in court next week.
Ms. Tonia Bright will ap- pear before Magistrate Judge Julie S. Sneed on Wednes- day, February 10th, at 11 a.m. The hearing will take place in Courtroom 11 A, of the federal courthouse building.
Ms. Bright has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of obtaining information from a protected computer and is fac- ing a maximum of ten years in prison.
Ms. Bright was a 33-year veteran civilian of the Tampa Police Department.
As part of her authorized duties, she took reports from citizens in person and by tele- phone that did not require the response of a sworn police offi- cer. As a result of her responsi- bilities, Ms. Bright had access to local, state, and federal law enforcement databases, includ- ing the National Crime Infor- mation Center computerized index. But, her authorized use was restricted to the perform-
ance of her duties.
Officials said Ms. Bright
began providing her friend,
Ms. Rita Monique Girven
with information for the pur- pose of filing false federal in- come tax returns, beginning in 2009 through 2014. Ms. Bright reportedly gave Ms. Girven protected information on at least 10 occasions. When Ms. Girven received the in- come tax refunds, she shared some of the money with Ms. Bright.
Ms. Bright accessed the information of a tax fraud vic- tim on March 13, 2013. Police said the victim had not had any contact with the department since July 2012 and there was no legitimate reason for Ms. Bright to access his informa- tion.
She is said to have given the information to Ms. Girven. Ms. Girven filed 15 tax re- funds generated from her home address and loaded on to a debit card after receiving the information.
Officials said Ms. Girven attempted to obtain $757,936 in fraudulent income tax re- funds. She successfully re- ceived $432,157.
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