TAMPA, Fla. – A Chicago man has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for mail fraud and fraudulent claims to an agency of the United States government.
As part of his sentence, the court also ordered Elvin Marks, forfeiture in the amount of $606,309.35, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct. Marks pleaded guilty on November 1, 2022.
According to court documents, beginning in January 2016 and continuing through December 2018, Marks devised a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to obtain money using the United States Postal Service (USPS).
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To accomplish the fraudulent scheme, Marks prepared IRS Tax Forms 1040 and/or 1040X that included fraudulent information concerning wages, earnings, and deductions to obtain tax refunds for himself or others, which he was not entitled to, and were mailed through the USPS to the IRS.
These fraudulent tax forms caused the IRS to issue refunds that Marks received in the Middle District of Florida.
For instance, on December 20, 2016, Marks knowingly made and sent to the IRS a falsified IRS Tax Form 1040X for calendar year 2015, claiming a tax refund for $99,960 in the name of another person, which the IRS rejected.
In addition, Marks knowingly made and sent to the IRS a falsified IRS Tax Form 1040 for calendar year 2017 in his own name, requesting a refund of $4,606,144.
The IRS subsequently mailed Marks’ tax refund to a residence in Florida, which he later obtained. The IRS recovered $3,994,611.85 from the Marks, resulting in a loss of $606,309.35.
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“With filing season underway, the financial penalties and significant prison term handed down against Mr. Marks is a timely reminder of the importance of ensuring your tax return is an honest account of your income and tax obligations. This sentencing should also put unscrupulous preparers on notice about the consequences that await those who do not play by the rules,” said IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Ronald A. Loecker.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Pizzo and Maria Guzman.
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