Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael J. DePalma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Ronald Verrocchio, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, announced the filing of an indictment charging defendants Gerald Duverger, 34, and Jean Louis, 40, both of North Miami, with filing false, fictitious, and fraudulent claims and with wire fraud. A separate indictment was filed charging Jeaneno Florent, 37, also of North Miami, with filing false, fictitious, and fraudulent claims. Defendants Duverger and Louis were arraigned today in federal court in Miami before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry L. Garber at 10:00 a.m. Defendant Florent will be arraigned at a later date.
Defendant Louis is charged with one count and defendants Duverger and Florent are each charged with two counts of filing false, fictitious, and fraudulent claims, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 287. Defendants Duverger and Louis are each charged with one count of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.
According to the charging documents, in 2012, the USSS received information that two large tax refund checks had been paid on tax returns filed by Duverger and Florent. With respect to Duverger, the tax return fraudulently indicated that Duverger made $8 million in wages from Capitol Records, Inc. and was entitled to a refund of approximately $613,043. The Department of Treasury sent the tax refund to a bank account controlled by Duverger.
As further alleged in the charging documents, in January 2013, a tax return was submitted in the name of Louis claiming over $9 million in wages from Warner Bros Distribution Corporation and seeking a refund of approximately $600,281. On July 3, 2013, the Department of Treasury sent the tax refund of approximately $603,883 to Louis’ bank account.
If convicted, the defendants face a possible maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison for each count of filing false, fictitious and fraudulent claims and 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud.
Mr. Ferrer thanked IRS-CI, USPIS, USSS, and Miami Beach Police Department for their work on this case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger.
An indictment is only an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
