Looks like some “newcomers” have really learned to “work” the system … especially in California.
And in particular under the leadership of Governor Gavin Newsom.
As detailed in a recent press release from the Department of Justice,
Victor Cruz, a tax return preparer in Bakersfield, California pleaded guilty to assisting Miguel Martinez with submitting fraudulent individual federal income tax returns.
Martinez, a Mexican national present in the United States illegally, reportedly spearheaded a scam to file thousands of fraudulent tax returns, which collectively claimed multiple millions of dollars in refunds.
The scam was effectively twofold.
First, Martinez utilized stolen identities for creating fake businesses and reporting false wage and withholding information for the fraudulent businesses to the IRS.
Secondly, Martinez then submitted several hundred individual income tax returns in the names of individuals whose identities he had stolen to the IRS.
The claims from the fraudulent returns claimed a whopping $25 million in refunds.
The scam reportedly took place from November 2019 through June 2023, which means that the entire fraud began during COVID.
As the entire scam occurred in California, one can only wonder how the IRS did not seem to realize that California was an unlikely locale for the emergence of several small businesses during a pandemic … especially as Gruesome Newsom clearly did his best to destroy many small- and medium-sized businesses.
And here’s the kicker: The IRS actually paid out $2.3 million to the fraudsters, or nearly 10 percent of the $25 million claimed.
IRS CI Oakland Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley was certainly disgusted by the “elaborate scheme.”
“Mr. Martinez orchestrated an elaborate scheme to steal approximately $25 million by filing hundreds of fraudulent federal income tax returns using fake businesses with false refund claims all while attempting to challenge the integrity of the U.S. tax system,” Mosley declared.
Well, with respect, Martinez clearly challenged “the integrity” of the American tax system as well.
“[Martinez’s] plea reinforces that IRS Criminal Investigation special agents and investigative staff are up to that challenge and committed to following the money and directing criminals to justice,” Mosley added.
While Martinez was sentenced in 2024, Cruz is still awaiting his sentencing.
Cruz will supposedly face a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $250,000 fine, and his sentencing is set to occur this coming November.
However, the DOJ also notes that “actual sentence … will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.”
“A number of variables,” huh?
Well, here is one variable to keep in mind: Martinez himself, who made seven figures off taxpayer fraud, was sentenced to a grand total of six years in prison, per a report from Fox News.
It remains unclear whether Martinez will be promptly deported after serving his time, as a new administration will theoretically be in power by 2030.
After all, Martinez was clearly one of the “newcomers” referred to by the previous presidential administration, and one can only imagine how much he managed to leech off the system in California before the IRS finally caught up to him.
Author: Ofelia Thornton
