Providence Woman Cashed Illegal Tax Refund Check

Wow, what a dope this woman is. I mean it's one thing to cheat on your taxes a little, but it's a whole other thing to make up fake returns. Makes you wonder how many other people across the country are doing this. Good job lady....hope you enjoy your time in the slammer. Via ProJo:

A city woman whom federal prosecutors said cashed an $8,885 fraudulent tax refund check pleaded guilty to tax fraud charges today in United States District Court.

Josefina Lorenzi 47, of Indiana Avenue, Providence, pleaded guilty to submitting a fraudulent claim to the United States Treasury, U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente's office announced. Lorenzi admitted that she schemed to use false tax returns filed in other persons' names, but using her home address, to get illegal refunds, Corrente's office said.

At Lorenzi's plea hearing, Asst. U.S. Attorney Andrew Reich said the government could prove that on Dec. 10 Lorenzi presented an $8,885 tax refund check payable to someone else for a tax return that had been filed fraudulently. A subsequent search of her Indiana Avenue home produced eight additional refund checks worth $22,526, payable to individuals other than Lorenzi, Corrente's office said.

Federal agents determined that 27 other false returns had been filed in names other than Lorenzi's, but using her home address. Those returns were due refunds totaling $113,503.

Between the refund checks Lorenzi cashed, the checks found in her home, a stimulus check for $900 that she had cashed, and the additional refund requests, prosecutors said she had fraudulently sought refunds totaling $150,360.

She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,00 fine. She is scheduled to be sentenced July 24.