On Friday, November 3, 2017, it was announced that a woman from Chicago, Illinois had been sentenced to 30 months in prison for conspiring to file fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities. Court documents show that 27-year-old Dominique King conspired with 45-year-old Roxann Gist and another co-conspirator to file at least 858 fraudulent income tax returns using stolen names and social security numbers. The scheme took place from 2012 to 2015.
The fraudulent tax returns attempted to acquire more than $2.7 million in refunds. Gist and King tried to obtain the personal identifying information from thousands of victims. They also instructed others to receive and collect fraudulent income tax refund checks and to open bank accounts to access direct deposits of the refunds.
In addition to the 30 months in prison, King has also been ordered to serve two years of supervised release. The defendant has also been ordered to pay $1,332,935 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. In February, King pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal public money and aggravated identity theft.
Gist was sentenced to 36 months in prison in September of this year. She previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal public money, theft of public money and aggravated identity theft in February. Additional details can be found here.