Man, woman to repay $5.4 million in IRS fraud case
A California woman and a Columbus man have pleaded guilty in federal court to a scheme that led to more than $5.4 million in fraudulent income tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service.
Melody Rose Jones, 38, agreed to pay $4.7 million in restitution to the IRS after pleading guilty to one count each of theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft, the IRS Criminal Investigation field office in Cincinnati reported Wednesday.
Thomas A. Shockley, 47, of Columbus, pleaded guilty the same day to one count of conspiracy relative to the submission of false claims for income tax refunds with the IRS and agreed to pay $668,381 in restitution.
In 2009, Jones, who was living in Columbus at the time, recruited Shockley to help her collect personal information from low-income or unemployed people in return for payment. She also enlisted her cousin, Lindsey Harkless, and other recruiters, court documents state.
Read more: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170602/man-woman-to-repay-54-million-in-irs-fraud-case