Tampa, FL - U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore yesterday sentenced Anthony Simms (37, formerly of Riverview) to 8 years’ imprisonment, after being convicted on seven counts of passing forged Treasury checks, seven counts of theft of government property, and seven counts of aggravated identity theft. The Court also entered a forfeiture money judgment and restitution in the amount of nearly $64,000, representing the proceeds from the seven cashed checks.
Simms pleaded guilty on Oct. 15, 2013.
According to court documents, from November 9, 2011 through Jan. 25, 2012, Simms deposited 57 third-party tax refund Treasury checks and 8 tax refund cashier’s checks into his business account at SunTrust Bank, through various ATMs located in the Tampa area. Simms was the sole signatory on the business account and the only one who used the ATM card for these deposits. He was not authorized or entitled to deposit or cash these checks and knew that the signatures of the payees on the back of the checks were forged. The payees on the Treasury checks did not know or have any dealings with Simms or his business, and did not authorize any checks, in their names, to be deposited into his account. Some payees on the Treasury checks were deceased. The total amount of money deposited into Simms’s account through these 65 tax refund checks totaled $449,689. Simms also opened other business accounts at two other local banks and attempted to deposit over $15,000 of Treasury checks into those accounts.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Assistant United States Attorney Kelley C. Howard-Allen.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
