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Home > Blogs > Dayton Courts: Legal and crime news > Archives > 2012 > January > 27 > Entry
Three women indicted in scheme to steal identities of mentally disabled people
DAYTON — Three Dayton women are accused of stealing the identities of more than 30 people, most of them mentally disabled, then filing fraudulent income tax returns claiming about $170,000 in refunds between March 2008 and March 2009, according to federal authorities.
Karen T. Taylor, 50, Laquanna R. Bradshaw, 30, and Tiffany L. Cole, 26, were indicted Jan. 11, though those indictments were sealed until Wednesday.
All three have been arrested, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Carter M. Stewart said Friday. Taylor and Bradshaw were arrested Wednesday and released on bond following an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael R. Merz. Cole is currently incarcerated on unrelated forgery charges and will appear before a magistrate judge in early February, Stewart said.
“IRS Criminal Investigation has made investigating refund fraud and identity theft a top priority,” said Darryl Williams, Special Agent in Charge for the IRS’ Cincinnati Field Office. He added that these crimes were “even more heinous” because the defendants targeted “mentally impaired individuals.”
Williams said his office was investigating several similar schemes, and news of the indictments followed the sentencing Thursday of Rickie S. Rutledge, 55, of Dayton, to 32 months imprisonment in a separate tax fraud scheme that involved preparing false returns in the names of other taxpayers. Rutledge was also ordered to pay $81,000 in restitution to the IRS. His co-conspirator, Donna Dunn, was sentenced to five years of probation in August.
Taylor was employed as an office cleaner and allegedly obtained the personal identifying information while performing her cleaning duties, Stewart said. He did not identify the company.
Bradshaw and Cole filed false income tax returns on others’ names using the information supplied by Taylor. Those returns reported significant income from work the victims allegedly performed as household help, though no W-2 forms were filed with the returns. Those returns also contained fictitious dependents in order to qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, Stewart said.
The refunds were deposited into bank accounts controlled by the defendants, who then withdrew the money and spent it for their own personal benefit, Stewart said.
All three defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to obtain false claims for income tax refunds. In addition: — Taylor is charged with six counts of willfully filing false claims and six counts of identity theft. — Bradshaw is charged with four counts of willfully filing false claims and one count of identity theft. — Cole is charged with six counts of willfully filing false claims and five counts of identity theft.
The conspiracy counts are punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The other charges are punishable by up to five years in prison. All of the counts are also punishable by a fine of up to $250,000.
Stewart said that people who suspect they may have been the victims of identity theft should immediately contact the IRS, either through the website at irs.gov or at 1-800-908-4490.
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