Barbados National Arraigned For Over $120M In Tax Fraud
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A Barbados national who has lived in several U.S. cities was arraigned on Wednesday in federal court in Chicago on charges alleging he fraudulently obtained more than $10 million from the U.S. in federal income tax refunds by filing hundreds of bogus tax returns.
In total, the returns claimed refunds totaling more than $120 million between 2007 and 2011, a release from the U.S. Attorney's office said.
Andrew J. Watts, 34, whose last known address was in Newark, N.J., allegedly prepared and submitted the false returns using the names and social security numbers of actual taxpayers who were dead and in the names of dead individuals who were false represented to be alive at the time the returns were filed.
Watts then directed that the false tax refunds be mailed to addresses he controlled and electronically deposited into bank accounts under his control, including an address and a bank account in Chicago, the charges allege.
Watts was arrested on April 29 in Kansas City and returned to Chicago to face prosecution. A federal grand jury returned a 27-count indictment on May 26 charging Watts with 14 counts of filing false claims against the U.S., 9 counts of aggravated identity theft and four counts of mail fraud.
The indictment also seeks forfeiture of at least $10 million. Watts, a permanent resident alien, had previously lived in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Bevery Hills, Calif.
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