Two Men Added to Indictment for $254,000 Tax Refund Scheme

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Kansas man and a Colorado man have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to claim more than $254,000 in fraudulent tax refunds.

Pete Scott, 37, of Junction City, Kan., and Leroy Pruitt, 33, of Colorado Springs, Colo., were charged along with Kalena LaToya Winston, 39, of Killeen, Texas, and Shree C. Furby, 39, of Talladega, Ala., in a 21-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, March 10, 2016. The superseding indictment replaces the original indictment that was returned on Jan. 12, 2016, and adds Scott and Pruitt as defendants.

The federal indictment alleges that Winston, Furby, Scott and Pruitt participated in a conspiracy to file false claims for federal income tax refunds from January 2011 to April 12, 2012. According to the indictment, the tax refund scheme resulted in a criminal tax loss of at least $254,893.

Winston allegedly prepared fraudulent 2010 and 2011 tax returns that included false information in order to increase the taxpayers’ earned income credit. Furby allegedly assisted Winston by filing two false tax returns and allowing Winston to use her address on 11 tax returns in order to receive the refunds. Pruitt allegedly used false identity information to establish Internet service that Winston used to transmit the fraudulent returns to the IRS. Scott allegedly distributed the refund debit cards to the taxpayers after the money had already been withdrawn from the cards.

In addition to the conspiracy, Winston and Furby are charged together in two counts of making fraudulent claims to the IRS in order to receive a tax refund to which the individual was not entitled. Winston is charged in an additional 18 counts of making false claims.

All of the federal tax returns were filed at the Internal Revenue Service Center located in Kansas City, Mo.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.