Late Monday, Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division and Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, announced the sentencing David Forbes, on charges of theft of government monies resulting from his participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme.
Forbes, 43, of Cooper City, Florida, pled guilty in November to five separate counts of theft of government monies, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641.
At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra sentenced Forbes to 48 months in federal prison. In addition, Forbes was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $372,342.41.
In pleading guilty, Forbes admitted his participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme and to the theft of government funds in which he converted more than $1,574,791.83 in income tax refunds. Those amounts were then deposited into his personal and corporate bank accounts.
The tax refund payments were obtained through Forbes’ filing of false tax returns using stolen personal identification information of unwitting victims. During the investigation and prosecution, Forbes consented to the government’s seizure of $888,399.08. In addition, other bank accounts were identified and an additional $313,550.00 was frozen and returned to the government.
During the press conference, U.S. Attorney Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CID and Secret Service. The case on behalf of the government was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurie Rucoba.
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