RALEIGH - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announces that on today, in federal court, United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle, sentenced MIRNA LETICIA DURAN, 39, of Rose Hill, North Carolina, to 24 months imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $247,290 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
On June 27, 2016, DURAN pled guilty to conspiracy to file fraudulent income tax returns using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). The ITIN program enables aliens, who earn income in the United States, to file income tax returns and pay taxes. The wage and tax statements attached to these ITIN returns were fraudulent. Refunds were inflated by claiming fictitious dependents to obtain child tax credits. The total amount of refunds sought by DURAN and her co-conspirators exceeded 1.4 million dollars. The IRS did not issue all the refunds sought because it detected the fraud.
DURAN also filed a fraudulent return in her name, falsely claiming she earned income working for a company and paid withholding taxes resulting in a $9,409 tax refund.
The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division led the investigation of this case with the assistance of the United States Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HIS), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant United States Attorney Susan B. Menzer represented the government.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
