LAS VEGAS, Nev. - A federal inmate and his accomplice pleaded guilty today to charges stemming from a fraudulent tax withholding scheme, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Ismael Nevarez Jr. for the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS CI).
According to court documents and admissions made in court, Jabari Laquan Marshall, 43, devised the fraudulent tax withholding scheme while incarcerated in a Bureau of Prisons facility. As part of the scheme, Marshall provided co-defendant Jalen Tony Henry, 27, with false documents that purportedly showed the sale of certain trade secrets for $25 million during the 2014 tax year. To make those false documents appear more credible, Marshall used the real social security numbers of two other individuals.
In April 2015, Henry filed an amended tax return for tax year 2014, using the false documents and fraudulently claiming that - as part of the fictitious sale of the trade secrets - $5,575,633 in federal income tax had been withheld on his behalf. Henry requested a tax refund of $1,359,645, and actually received a refund check for $1,439,039, which he deposited into his bank account. Marshall then directed Henry to split the funds among their family members. Because of the suspicious nature of the transaction, Henry’s bank account was frozen, and the IRS successfully recovered $1,433,971 of the refund amount sent to Henry.
Marshall pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money and one count of aggravated identity theft. Henry pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money. The maximum statutory penalty is 10 years in prison for theft of government money, and two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. Both defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan on Aug. 13, 2021.
The case was investigated by IRS CI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Schmale is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
