Greenbelt, Maryland - United States District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Mehlek Dawveed, age 51, of Olney, Maryland to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud stemming from the filing of fraudulent tax returns, in which he received one fraudulent refund of more than $970,000.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur and Acting Special Agent in Charge Kelly R. Jackson of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation.
According to his plea agreement, in March 2011, Dawveed filed a fraudulent income tax return for 2010 that resulted in him receiving a refund in the amount of $977,558. For Dawveed to receive the funds, the IRS wired the money from a bank in Kansas City, Missouri to Dawveed’s account in Maryland.
Using part of the fraudulently obtained funds, Dawveed paid the remaining $83,837 balance on the mortgage for his residence in Olney, Maryland and deposited a $250,000 check into a bank account controlled by Dawveed’s wife. Dawveed wrote several other checks into accounts controlled by him or close associates and wrote checks to various individuals and family members and for his own personal expenses.
Subsequently, on Feb. 18, 2012, Dawveed filed a fraudulent income tax return for 2011 in which he requested a refund in the amount of $1,324,961. This falsely requested refund was not issued. On Feb. 27, 2012, Dawveed then filed a 2010 Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, in which he changed his taxable interest income from $1,486,902 to $0 and stated: “we now beckon you to accept our humblest apology for the ‘Unintentional Errors’ made during our 1040 filing for Tax Year 2010 for they were not done with ‘Malicious Intent.’" The form falsely stated: “In ‘Good Faith’ we submitted a Payment of $5,000,000 Million Dollars to the IRS on Jan. 31, 2012 in hopes of settling the remaining ‘Debt’ from our 1040 Tax Filing for Year 2010." No such $5,000,000 payment was ever made.
Judge Hazel also ordered a forfeiture and restitution order in the amount of $788,991. Dawveed was also ordered to forfeit his Olney residence, the mortgage for which he paid off with the fraudulent tax refund money.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the IRS for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean R. Delaney and Kelly O. Hayes, who are prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
