PHOENIX – LAWFUEL – Law News Network – Salvador Ramos Maciel, of Casa Grande, Arizona, pleaded guilty pleaded guilty
August 15, 2006, in federal district court to charges of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States with respect to claims.
Maciel was indicted in May of 2005 on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States with respect to claims and 28 counts of making false, fictitious and fraudulent claims against the United
States. The indictment alleged Maciel, along with Anna C. Andrade and Jose Jesus Maciel Barajas submitted by mail 327 Individual Federal Income Tax Returns using 95 names for the years 1997
through 2001. The indictment alleged that all the tax returns contained false and fictitious information.
The tax returns used a form W-2 to claim false amounts of wages and income tax withholding thereby
making the alleged taxpayer eligible for a tax refund. The W-2’s were created for non-existent employers or for persons who never were in the employment of the listed employer.
It was alleged that in the course of the scheme those fraudulent returns made false claims for $384,498.00 in refunds. The
government as a result of the scheme paid out $ 63,296.00 in tax refund checks.
The charges to which Maciel pleaded guilty carry a maximum penalty of five years, $250,000 in fines or both. The sentencing is scheduled before United Stated District Roslyn O. Silver. In determining an actual sentence, Judge Silver will consult the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which
provide appropriate sentencing ranges. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.
The investigation in this case was conducted by special agents of Criminal Investigation at the Internal Revenue Service.
