45 Charged After Sweep For ID Theft & Tax Fraud
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — A week long sweep in South Florida targeting identity theft and tax fraud resulted in charges against nearly four dozen people.
Federal authorities said 45 people were charged in 30 separate cases.
Miami U.S. Attorney Wilfredo Ferrer says the cases were investigated by the South Florida Identity Theft Tax Fraud Strike Force. That unit includes federal agencies as well as state and local law enforcement.
Ferrer says those charged were responsible for at least 22,000 stolen or compromised identities. Many were insiders that used jobs at places such as health care providers, restaurants, schools and prisons to gain access to the identities.
The identities were used in attempts to claim more than $38 million in fraudulent tax refunds. Of that amount, about $11.5 million was actually paid out in these latest cases.
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