Ten people illegally in the United States pleaded guilty for their involvement in a four-year, $13 million fraud against the Internal Revenue Service, acting U.S. Attorney Kevin F. McDonald said Thursday. Nine defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and for entering the United States without authorization, Assistant U.S. Attorney David C. Stephens told The Greenville News .
The 10th defendant pleaded guilty to mail fraud and illegal entry, Stephens said. Senior U.S. District Judge G. Ross Anderson Jr. accepted the pleas and will sentence the defendants later.
“This is the largest tax fraud case that I’m aware of ever occurring in the district of South Carolina,” Stephens said. “This is an extraordinarily serious, large case.”
McDonald said that between 2006 and November 2009, two tax preparation businesses, Seguros Internacionales, operating in Spartanburg and Forest City, N.C., and Poz Servicios Para Hispanos, operating in Boiling Springs, along with affiliated individuals filed more than 10,000 federal income tax returns claiming more than $22 million in refunds
The IRS paid approximately $13 million in refunds before criminal investigators discovered most of the returns filed were fraudulent, McDonald said.
Seguros Internacionales and Poz Servicios Para Hispanos have been shut down, he said.
Agents estimate at least 20 people were involved in operating the scheme in which tax preparers knowingly claimed tax credits or deductions to which filers weren’t entitled, McDonald said.
One tax credit improperly claimed on a majority of the false returns was for child care expenses, prosecutors said. The credit can result in a refund even if no taxes were paid, prosecutors said.
Of the 10 people pleading guilty Thursday, nine were “runners” who solicited others to have their returns falsely prepared and then assisted them in getting their refund checks cashed, Stephens said.
McDonald identified them as Edgar Carrillo-Borjas, Miguel Angel Carrillo-Borjas, David Hernandez-Juarez, Ariana Canseco-Orozco, Maribel Juan-Orozco, Cristina Sanchez-Perez, Juan Carlos Carrillo-Roy, Carlos Carrillo-Rodriguez, all of Mexico, and Luis Gerardo Mora-Vargas, of Costa Rica.
The 10th person, Omar Maldonado-Cardenas, of Mexico, had an active role running the day-to-day operations at Seguros Internacionales for two years, McDonald said.
He said two other people in the case pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year to obstruction of justice.
Juan Manuel Galban Ortega and Rodolfo Magana Escoto, both of Mexico, admitted burning documents and records associated with Seguros Internacionales, according to McDonald and federal court records.
On Nov. 17, approximately 100 law enforcement agents served search warrants and conducted interviews at various locations throughout the Upstate in connection with the investigation, McDonald said.
According to prosecutors, the 12 people who were convicted remain in federal custody and are awaiting sentencing. They face maximum penalties ranging from five to 20 years. All will be deported after completing their sentences, prosecutors said.
In connection with the case, five more people were arrested this week and charged with conspiring to defraud the United States, according prosecutors and court records.
Those arrested included Yolanda Poz of Boiling Springs, Lisa Mendoza of Spartanburg, Teresa Bravo of Pacolet, and Ashley Moore of Forest City, according to McDonald and court records. A fifth person was arrested Thursday, Stephens said.
None could be reached for comment.
The investigation is ongoing, and more charges are likely, McDonald said.
He said the case is being investigated by agents from the IRS, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.