Page 16 - VTaxOnDemand Independent Industry Analysis of Accounting Industry

Final Defendants Sentenced for Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Scheme

On July 27, 2015, in Houston, Jason Maclaskey and Omar Butt were sentenced to serve
120 months and 40 months, respectively, for their roles in a scheme to steal identities and file
fraudulent federal tax returns. A third defendant, Heather Dale, of Alabama, was previously
sentenced to 24 months in prison. The court also ordered them to pay $314,868 in restitution.
The defendants unlawfully obtained the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers from
371 taxpayers and used this information to file false tax returns in 2009. The defendants also
used this information to set up fraudulent bank accounts and directed the tax refunds to be sent to
debit cards in the taxpayers’ names. The defendants then withdrew this money using the debit
cards at ATMs and by making purchases at various retail stores. Through this conspiracy, the
defendants claimed a total of more than $1.4 million in false tax refunds, succeeded in
withdrawing more than $300,000 before the scheme was uncovered.

Florida Brothers Sentenced for Identity Theft Scheme

On July 31, 2015, in Miami, brothers Densom Beaucejour and Winzord Beaucejour were
each sentenced to 70 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay
$553,204 in restitution. In January 2015, a police officer reported being a victim of identity theft
and that a fraudulent unemployment insurance claim had been filed in his/her name. On March
11, 2015, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at the defendants’ residence and
found documents with the personal identifying information of more than 1,000 individuals.
Agents also discovered three handguns, $8,600 in cash, and several credit cards embossed with
names of individuals who did not appear to live at the residence. Approximately 365 fraudulent
tax returns were filed with the IRS from the residence seeking $413,279 in fraudulent tax
refunds, as well as two fraudulent Ohio state tax returns seeking $15,004. In total, the amount of
intended loss is $917,973.

IRS and Tax Preparation Security Summit Initiatives

2016 Highlights
1.) New protocols required all individual tax software customers to update their security
credentials to a minimum eight-digit password and establish security questions.
2.) Software providers shared approximately 20 data elements from tax returns with the IRS
and states to help identify possible fraud. These elements are confidential but include
information to identify returns prepared quickly by automated programs.
3.) Industry partners performed regular reviews to identify possible identity theft schemes
and report them to the IRS and state partners to help stay on top of emerging schemes.
4.) Summit partners launched a “Taxes. Security. Together” campaign to increase public
awareness about the need for computer security and provide people with tips on how to
protect their personal information.

Curbing Fraud and Identity Theft
1.) From January through April 2016, the IRS stopped $1.1 billion in fraudulent refunds
claimed by identity thieves on more than 171,000 tax returns; compared to $754 million
in fraudulent refunds claimed on 141,000 returns for the same period in 2015. Better data
from returns and information about schemes meant better internal processing filters to

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