MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO IDENTITY THEFT

A Montgomery, Alabama woman pled guilty last week to identity theft and tax fraud charges, according to the US Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Veronica dale, the defendant, also pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false, fictitious or fraudulent claims with the United States; two counts of theft of government money, property or records; one count of wire fraud; and one count of aggravated identity theft.

A federal grand jury indicted Dale in Montgomery, Alabama in December of 2010.  Dale was indicted with four other conspirators who were also charged with identity theft and tax fraud.  The identity theft ring filed fraudulent tax returns between 2009 and 2010 using others’ personal identifying information.

The identity thief admitted to filing over 500 tax returns using other peoples’ personal identifying information, while trying to get about $2.5 million in fraudulent tax refunds. The identity thief also admitted to using the names of Medicaid recipients without their permission.  Dale obtained the victims’ personal identifying information when she worked for as company servicing Medicaid programs.

The members of the identity theft ring were charged in a different federal indictment by another federal grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama and included several counts for a similar identity theft and tax fraud scheme. The identity theft ring accounted for fraud between $400,000 and $1 million.  Similarly, the victims’ personal identifying information was stolen from Medicaid recipients.

At least one of the identity thieves may receive as little as two years in prison, or up to sixty-two years, supervised release, and a $1.75 million fine.  The other members of the fraud ring may receive a maximum of 10 years in prison. 

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