Alabama Woman Sentenced to Jail for Role in
Identity Theft Tax Scheme

Angelique Djonret of Montgomery, Ala., was sentenced today to serve two years in prison for her involvement in a million dollar identity theft tax fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr.  Angelique Djonret pleaded guilty to identity theft on April 19, 2013.

According to court documents, between October 2009 and April 2012, Angelique Djonret’s sister, Antoinette Djonret, orchestrated a tax refund scheme using stolen identities to file over 1,000 false tax returns that fraudulently claimed over $1.7 million in tax refunds.  Antoinette Djonret obtained stolen identities from multiple sources, including Alabama state databases.  She also established an elaborate network for laundering the refund money.  Antoinette Djonret recruited her sister, Angelique, into the conspiracy, whose role was to obtain prepaid debit cards in her name and others’ names for purposes of receiving the fraudulent tax refunds.  Antoinette Djonret and her co-conspirators used the cards to obtain the refund proceeds.  Angelique Djonret also assisted in the filing of false tax returns using stolen identities.  Antoinette Djonret was previously sentenced to 12 years in prison. 

Assistant Attorney General Keneally and U.S. Attorney Beck commended the efforts of Special Agents of Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Jason H. Poole and Michael Boteler, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Brown, who prosecuted the case.