Birmingham Man Sentenced to Prison for False Tax Refund Scheme

WASHINGTON - Cardale Leon Bates of Birmingham, Ala., was sentenced to 57 months in prison today by U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Judge Coogler also ordered Bates to3 years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $56,946 in restitution.

In June 2009, Bates pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and filing a false claim for tax refund. According to the plea agreement and statements made in court, from 2004 through 2005, Bates, who was indicted in May 2009, and others participated in a fraudulent scheme to obtain payment of false tax refunds presented to the IRS. As part of the scheme, Bates acquired names and social security numbers for the purpose of using this information to assist in the preparation of false tax returns claiming refunds. The false claims for refunds were ultimately filed electronically with the IRS and the proceeds of the scheme were directed into several bank accounts that the defendant Bates and others controlled. All told, Bates presented $121,932 worth of false claims to the IRS, resulting in $56,946 in false tax refunds to be issued by the U.S. Treasury.

John A. DiCicco, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama for their assistance in this case. Acting Assistant Attorney General DiCicco also thanked the IRS-Criminal Investigation agents and the agents of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration who investigated the case, as well as Tax Division Trial Attorneys Matthew J. Mueller and Jed M. Silversmith and Assistant United States Attorney Melissa K. Atwood who prosecuted the case.

Additional information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.