FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 11, 2006
PUEBLO WOMAN SENTENCED FOR FILING FALSE REFUND CLAIM WITH IRS
DENVER - Bill Leone, United States Attorney for the District of Colorado, and Terry L. Stuart, Special Agent In Charge of the IRS-Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office, announced that U.S. District Court Judge Phillip S. Figa sentenced SYDESSAH NYESSAH LEWIS, age 31, yesterday to serve five months in federal prison, followed by five months home detention, and three years supervised release. LEWIS was also ordered to pay $16,714.00 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
LEWIS pled guilty to filing a false refund claim with the IRS. The guilty plea was entered on April 21, 2006. She was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on February 6, 2006.
According to the plea agreement, in January 2003, a 2002 Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (Form 1040) was filed with the IRS in the name of Rachel Baca, using a specific Social Security Number. The Form W-2 attached to this tax return reflected wages of $5,470 and $52 in Federal Income Taxes withheld from Sunstone Hotel Properties. The tax return also reported a profit from a childcare business of $5,678. The tax return requested that the refund of $3,430 be deposited into a bank account at Santa Barbara Bank and Trust.
IRS Investigative Aides at the Fraud Detection Center in Ogden, Utah discovered through IRS records and by contacting the payroll department at Sunstone Hotel Properties that Rachel Baca never worked for Sunstone Hotel Properties.
Santa Barbara Bank and Trust personnel provided documentation of a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) applied for in Rachel Baca's name for her 2002 Form 1040. When this loan was applied for, a physical address on 12th Street, in Pueblo, Colorado and an America On Line (AOL) email address was provided to Santa Barbara Bank and Trust. Santa Barbara Bank and Trust sent the check for this RAL to the 12th Street, Pueblo, Colorado address. According to aol.com, the email address was registered in the name Willie May at the 12th Street, Pueblo, address.
According to LEWIS' landlord, she lived at the 12th Street address in Pueblo during the end of 2002 and beginning of 2003. According to Minnequa Works Credit Union personnel, LEWIS deposited the check for Rachel Baca's RAL into an account at Minnequa Works Credit Union owned by Sydessah Lewis.
Rachel Baca was interviewed by IRS-CI agents. Baca stated that she did not file this Form 1040, did not work for Sunstone Hotel Properties and did not own her own business in 2002. Baca also stated that she did not own an email or bank account during 2002.
The IRS established the Questionable Refund Program to deal with the serious problem of refund fraud, which has increased significantly in recent years. Congress has held a number of hearings urging the IRS to devote additional resources and improve its detection and prevention of fraudulent refunds, particularly those involving prisoners.
“The IRS estimates that fraudulent refund claims now exceed a half-billion dollars a year,” said Terry L. Stuart, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS-Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office.
Suspected tax fraud should be reported to the IRS using IRS Form 3949-A, Information Referral. Form 3949-A is available for download from the IRS Web site at IRS.gov, or through the U.S. Mail by calling 1-800-829-3676. The completed form or a letter detailing the alleged fraudulent activity should be addressed to the Internal Revenue Service, Fresno, CA 93888. The mailing should include specific information about who is being reported, the activity being reported, how the activity became known, when the alleged violation took place, the amount of money involved and any other information that might be helpful in an investigation. The person filing the report is not required to self-identify, although it is helpful to do so. The identity of the person filing the report can be kept confidential. The person may also be entitled to a reward.
Special Agents with the IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Robert E. Mydans prosecuted the case.
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