A Cleveland man was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to use false identities, including those of people incarcerated, to file nearly $2 million worth of false tax claims, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Kathy Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.
“This defendant stole identities and ripped off taxpayers," Dettelbach said.
“This 12-plus year sentence demonstrates our unwavering commitment to protecting the interests of law-abiding taxpayers," Enstrom said. “We will continue to partner with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and investigate the criminals who engage in such brazen and fraudulent conduct, ensuring that the only citizens who receive tax refunds are those who are entitled to them."
Kenneth A. White, 48, was sentenced to 155 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $342,365 in restitution after previously pleading guilty to multiple criminal counts.
White recruited people to use as claimants on some false tax returns, often with the promise of substantial refunds. White also obtained names, Social Security numbers and other personal identifiers of other people to use as claimants, including people in prison or jail. In some cases, this was done without the knowledge or consent of these other people, according to court documents.
Gwendolyn N. White, at the direction of Kenneth White and for a fee, prepared and electronically filed 10 false income tax returns for the year 2008 in the name of the claimants. The total amount claimed in the returns was approximately $1,995,687, according court documents.
Gwendolyn N. White, 32, of Cleveland, was previously sentenced to nearly four years in prison for her role in the conspiracy.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vasile Katsaros following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
