On May 30, 2018, it was announced that a woman from Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana had been sentenced to prison for her involvement in a stolen tax refund fraud scheme. Jackie Chaney, who is also known as Jackie Scott, was sentenced to 24 months in prison. The defendant previously pleaded guilty on December 28, 2016 to a single count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to commit theft of public money, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Court documents show that members of the conspiracy obtained the names and Social Security numbers of individuals for use in filing false tax returns. The defendant and her co-conspirators used the stolen information to prepare false tax returns seeking bogus returns from the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS issued the refunds in the form of prepaid debit cards or checks. Chaney conspired with others to convert the money into cash.
Chaney has also been ordered to serve two years of supervised release and to pay restitution in the amount of $809,605. Alicia Washington, who was a co-conspirator, previously pled guilty in February of 2017. Washington was ultimately sentenced to 42 months in prison. Additional details have been made available here.
