A Florida woman who assisted in carrying out a widespread tax fraud plan and made an effort to stop the IRS from retrieving a fraudulent refund she obtained after submitting a bogus tax return was given a one-year and one-day jail term today.
Rebecca Cyphers, 65, of Winter Springs, Florida, took part in a widespread tax fraud operation from at least September 2014 to May 2016, according to court records and testimony given in court. Promoters of the scam convinced potential customers that they were eligible for tax refunds because of their mortgages and other obligations.
For the purpose of filing tax returns with the IRS on behalf of their customers, additional participants in the scam made fraudulent claims that banks and other financial institutions had withheld significant sums of income tax from the clients’ paychecks, entitling them to refunds. In truth, neither the customers’ income nor any taxes were paid to or withheld by the financial institutions.
Cyphers acknowledged her involvement in the plan, which included extending invitations to at least one recruitment session to prospective customers. She also urged the potential customers to take part in the scam, despite the fact that Cyphers were aware it was illegality.
By submitting an altered 2013 income tax return with the false assertion that her mortgage holder had withheld more than $560,000 in taxes, Cyphers personally benefited from the plan. As a consequence, Cyphers received a return from the IRS of almost $240,000 to which she was not entitled.
Through massive cash withdrawals from a bank account holding the return amount, the transfer of the majority of the remaining funds into a trust, and the sending of pointless communications to the IRS, Cyphers thwarted the IRS’s attempts to recoup these illegal earnings.
U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza also mandated that Cyphers spend a year of supervised release after his prison sentence and pay the federal government $232,185.20 in restitution.
Iran Backstrom, the fraud scheme’s primary promoter, received a sentence of more than 8 years in jail in March. Backstrom’s deputy, Mehef Bey, received a term of 11 years in prison. Aaron Aqueron received a separate sentence of 51 months in jail for enlisting customers in the fraud and giving information to a different co-conspirator for the purpose of preparing fake tax returns.
Yomarie Febres, a fourth person, was also given a 51-month jail term for creating phony tax returns for the scheme’s participants. Other participants in the scam have been given jail terms in Florida and other states throughout the nation.
The statement was made by U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida and Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
The situation is being investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Isaiah Boyd III of the Tax Division.