Charleston, W.Va. - United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that a 39-year old man was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury sitting in Charleston for filing multiple false claims with the Internal Revenue Service. According to the 12-count indictment, Michael D. Jarrell, formerly of Boone County, West Virginia, filed fraudulent Individual Income Tax Return Forms for tax years 2009 - 2011, in which he claimed refunds in the names of individuals for whom he was not authorized to file. Further, as alleged in the indictment, these tax forms contained false information about the residences, employment, bank accounts and income for these individuals, as well as false withholdings. The false refunds totaled over $57,000.
Each count carries a statutory maximum of up to five years’ imprisonment upon conviction.
The investigation is being conducted by the Internal Revenue Service under its stolen identity refund fraud initiative. Assistant United States Attorney Eumi L. Choi is in charge of the prosecution.
A copy of the indictment is linked below.
Note: the charges contained in the indictment are merely accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proved guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
