Debt Collection Employee And Son-in-Law Sent To Prison For Identity Theft Tax Scheme

Montgomery, Alabama - Quentin Collick of Montgomery, Ala., and Deatrice Williams of Duluth, Ga., were sentenced Nov. 1, 2013, to serve 85 and 51 months in prison, respectively, announced George L. Beck, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama. Collick and Williams were previously found guilty by a jury in the Middle District of conspiring to file false claims, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Collick was also convicted on three counts of theft of public funds. Corey Thompson, a co-conspirator, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve 30 months in jail.

Based on evidence introduced at trial and court filings, Williams worked for a debt collection company located in Norcross, Ga. As an employee, Williams had access to a database that stored names, social security numbers, and dates of birth of individuals who owed medical debts. Williams stole the identities of a number of these individuals and provided the information to Collick, her son-in-law.

Collick and Thompson used the stolen identities to file false tax returns and fraudulently claim tax refunds. In 2011 and 2012, Thompson worked as an independent contractor for a cable company installing cable and internet access for customers. To conceal the filing of the false tax returns, Thompson used his specialized knowledge and equipment to shut down and hijack his customers’ internet service, and along with Collick, filed false tax returns using the customers’ internet access, making it appear as if the false tax returns were being filed by the customers. Thompson and Collick then directed the tax refunds to be placed on pre-paid debit cards, which were mailed to Montgomery, Ala. However, those cards were intercepted by the U.S. Postal Service. Several tax refund checks were also mailed by the IRS, based upon the fraudulent returns, which Collick retrieved and cashed.

This case was investigated by special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Michael Boteler, Jason H. Poole and Alexander Effendi and Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd A. Brown.

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