On April 27, 2017, Charlton Tierry Blain, 30, and Clifford Raoul Blain, 29, both of Highlands County, Florida, were sentenced to federal prison for participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Treasury Department through the filing of fraudulent federal income tax returns; conspiracy to commit access device fraud; and unlawful transfer, possession or use of a means of identification.
Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.
According to the court record, between January of 2012 and December of 2013, defendants Charlton and Clifford Blain conspired to unjustly enrich themselves by using unlawfully obtained personally identifiable information to file false and fraudulent income tax returns. The fraudulently obtained tax refunds were then deposited into bank accounts controlled by the defendants, and the illicit proceeds were withdrawn from those accounts. In total, 679 fraudulent tax returns were filed, claiming $986,978.00 in total refunds. Based upon these fraudulent filings, the IRS issued approximately $560,000 in refunds.
United States District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks sentenced the defendants. Clifford R. Blain was sentenced to sixty months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $124,712 in restitution. Charlton T. Blain was sentenced to forty-eight months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $520,094 restitution.
Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel E. Funk and Adam C. McMichael.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
