Tampa, Florida - U.S. District Judge Mary S. Sciven yesterday sentenced Weldon Malveau to three years in federal prison for theft of government property. The Court also ordered him to forfeit a 2010 Porsche Panamera, which is traceable to proceeds of the offense. As part of his sentence, the Court entered a money judgment in the amount of $342,563, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct.
Malveau pleaded guilty on February 7, 2017.
According to court documents, between January 2011 and March 2012, Malveau was involved in a scheme to file false and fraudulent income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in order to generate large refunds that were deposited onto debit cards. When law enforcement officers arrested Malveau in March 2012, he had 26 debit cards in his possession, in the names of different individuals, along with ledgers containing names and social security numbers. The investigation revealed that the IRS had received fraudulent tax returns and had issued refunds in the names of many of those individuals, totaling $342,563, which was traced back to Malveau.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the Tampa Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam M. Saltzman.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
