DENVER – Randall V. Heath, age 51, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on Monday, January 23, 2012, for identity theft, false claims, fraud and mail theft, United States Attorney John F. Walsh, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Sean Sowards, and United States Postal Inspection Service Oscar Villanueva announced. Heath is currently in custody in New Mexico on state fraud charges. At some point Heath will be transported to Denver by the U.S. Marshals Service. Once in Denver the defendant will appear in U.S. District Court in Denver where he will be advised of his rights and the charges pending against him.

According to the indictment, beginning on or about January 5, 2011, and continuing thereafter to on or about March 22, 2011, Heath, knowingly and unlawfully devised a scheme to defraud the United States Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). On or about August 10, 2010, Heath stole records consisting of personal information of clients from College Consultant Group, Inc. after the business had ceased operations. Heath used the College Consultant Group, Inc. records to engage in a variety of identity theft-related activities, to include production of counterfeit driver’s licenses and counterfeit government photo identifications.

Heath used the stolen personal information to cause false claims to be filed with the IRS. He particularly filed or caused to be filed false 2010 Form 1040’s in the names of various victims. In furtherance of the execution of the scheme, Heath used the prior year’s tax information and other personally identifiable information from the stolen records to create false Form W-2s, falsely claiming that he as the employee worked for certain employers in 2010 and/or falsely claiming the wages listed on the IRS Form W-2.

Heath received Federal Tax Refunds between approximately $7,000 and approximately $23,000 for each of the false claims filed for a total of approximately $275,034.00, resulting in the IRS issuing approximately $172,756.00 in fraudulent Federal Tax Refunds to Heath.

“Thanks to the excellent work of the IRS-Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, a man who stole identities to defraud the IRS has been indicted on federal charges,” said U.S. Attorney John Walsh.

“The IRS is aggressively pursuing those who steal others' identities in order to file false returns,” Sean P. Sowards, Special Agent in Charge for IRS Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office. “Our cooperative work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office will help protect taxpayers in Colorado from being victimized by identity theft.”

"The U.S. Postal Inspection Service continues to investigate individuals who perpetrate identity theft schemes. Postal Inspectors are charged in preserving the 'Sanctity of the Seal" and have jurisdiction if the U.S. Mail is used or compromised in committing these crimes. I am very appreciative of the hard work and countless hours put forth by our federal and state partners in pursuing justice in this case. Heath's actions caused significant financial damage and personal inconvenience to many of his victims." said Oscar Villanueva, Inspector in Charge, of the Denver Postal Inspection Service.

If convicted of theft of false claims against the government, the defendant faces not more than 5 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 per count. If convicted of aggravated identification theft, the defendant faces not more than 2 years imprisonment per count, and a fine of up $250,000. If convicted of wire fraud, the defendant faces not more than 20 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 per count. If convicted of check fraud, the defendant faces not more than 10 years imprisonment per count, and a fine of up $250,000. If convicted of mail theft, the defendant faces not more than 5 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 per count. If convicted of credit card fraud, the defendant faces not more than 10 years imprisonment per count, and a fine of up $250,000. The sentences for aggravated identity theft are mandatory consecutive to any other counts in the indictment.

This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service.

The defendant is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Mackey

The charges contained in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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