Monica Nanette Hernandez, 41, of Fresno was almost a millionaire – for a time.
Ms. Hernandez has pleaded guilty to filing false income tax returns that saw her getting more than $175,000 in refunds from the IRS. She had filed false returns for ten times as much.
She’s also admitted to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, says U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner.
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According to court documents, Ms. Hernandez worked for the IRS Service Center in Fresno as a part-time data entry clerk. While employed in that capacity, she filed three tax returns for herself claiming excessive federal tax withholdings as a result of falsely claimed interest and dividend income.
In addition, in April 2010, Ms. Hernandez stole 68 tax returns from the IRS Service Center and filed fraudulent tax returns using information contained on the stolen tax returns to claim excessive federal tax withholdings. In total, Hernandez attempted to claim more than $1,745,000 in fraudulent tax refunds.
“IRS Criminal Investigation has made investigating refund fraud and identity theft a top priority,” says IRS Special Agent-in-Charge José Martinez, “especially in those situations where individuals with positions of trust commit fraud by taking taxpayer information to file fraudulent tax returns in the name of the stolen identity to obtain a larger tax refund. This resulted in significant harm to those taxpayers whose identities were stolen, as well as a monetary loss against the U.S. Treasury.”
Ms. Hernandez is to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii on April 14 when she will face a possible maximum statutory penalty for filing false income tax returns of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine, a maximum statutory penalty for wire fraud of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine and a minimum mandatory term of two years in prison to be served consecutively with any other sentence up to a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison for aggravated identity theft.
