Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that an Anchorage resident was sentenced to prison for convictions of conspiracy to defraud the government and mail fraud.
Helen Delores Maloney, 45, of Anchorage, Alaska, was sentenced to 28 months in prison on July 2, 2013. Maloney pled guilty in April 2013 to conspiracy to defraud the government regarding false income tax refund claims and mail fraud. In addition to her prison sentence, a money judgment of $17,719 was entered against Maloney. She was also ordered to forfeit $23,160 seized from a residence and to pay restitution of $95,568.
According to court documents, Maloney was involved with two conspiracies between July 2009 and January 2012. The objective of both conspiracies was to obtain refunds by filing fraudulent income tax returns. Both schemes involved co-conspirators and victims who were inmates at correctional facilities.
Court documents revealed that the first conspiracy Maloney was involved in occurred between July 2009 and May 2011, when Maloney, co-conspirator John Koesterman, and others, prepared and submitted approximately 55 false tax returns claiming refunds of over $275,000. Koesterman was later indicted.
Court documents further indicate that the second conspiracy occurred between July 2010 and January 2012, when Maloney and co-conspirators Steven James McComb, Michael Lee Sexton, and Paulando Ramone Williams prepared and submitted approximately 21 false tax returns claiming refunds of over $51,000. Maloney submitted change of address forms for 20 victims of the scheme for whom her co-conspirators then submitted false tax returns, causing tax refund checks and other IRS correspondence to be mailed to her residence.
Maloney, McComb, Williams, and Sexton were indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2013, for conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to false claims; mail fraud; and aggravated identity theft. Their current status is as follows:
* McComb plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft on June 6, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 22, 2013;
* Williams is scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 23, 2013;
* Koesterman is scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 19, 2013;
* Sexton is a fugitive.
Regarding Koesterman, Williams, and Sexton, an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ms. Loeffler commends the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, for conducting the investigation leading to Maloney’s successful prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
