Tampa, Florida - Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Natalie Panko (57, Tampa) was arrested today on a four-count indictment charging her with conspiracy to commit theft of government property, identity theft, and theft of government property. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison on the conspiracy count and 10 years’ imprisonment on each of the three theft of government property counts. Panko made her initial appearance in federal court today and was released on bond.
According to the indictment, Panko and others knowingly processed debit and credit cards in other people’s names containing federal income tax refunds generated by fraudulent tax returns through Square Inc. accounts. Square Inc. is a merchant processor that provides terminals to businesses to process credit/debit card payments. Panko and others set up Square Inc. merchant accounts related to a restaurant located in the Middle District of Florida. The Square Inc. accounts associated with the restaurant were used to process credit and debit card transactions for both legitimate restaurant-related sales, as well as for tax fraud transactions using prepaid debit cards like Green Dot. After the payments were processed, Square Inc. electronically transferred the funds to bank accounts controlled by Panko and to the accounts of others, where the proceeds were shared with others and used for personal items.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelley C. Howard-Allen.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
