Tampa, FL - United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that North Port residents James Dee Jaeger (62) and Lora Anne Jaeger (50) each pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of filing a false claim for tax refund. Each faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison.
According to the plea agreement, on March 31, 2009, James Dee Jaeger and Lora Anne Jaeger electronically filed a joint federal income tax return with the IRS falsely claiming a refund in the amount of $344,672. The false refund amount was based on a bogus theory that the U.S. banking system maintains “Remic Trust" accounts for U.S. citizens and that taxpayers can gain access to the accounts by issuing 1099-OID forms to the IRS. Under this theory, the taxpayer first files a false Form 1099 Original Issue Discount (OID), to justify a false refund claim on a corresponding tax return. In this case, the IRS did not issue the fraudulent tax refund claimed by the Jaegers.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew J. Mueller and Trial Attorney Kevin C. Lombardi of the Department of Justice, Tax Division.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
