SCRANTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.
SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that United States District Court Judge Richard P. Conaboy sentenced Brian Reyes, age 30, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to 70 months’ imprisonment for participating in a stolen identity tax refund fraud conspiracy. Reyes pleaded guilty on October 18, 2016, pursuant to a one-count information that charged him with conspiring to defraud the United States with respect to fraudulent tax claims.
According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Reyes owned and operated Reyes Services LLC, a Scranton, Pennsylvania-based check cashing business. From January 2011 to June 2015, Reyes and his co-conspirators used stolen identities to prepare and file false federal income tax returns, unbeknownst to their victims. Reyes’s co-conspirators obtained the refund checks from those fraudulent returns and provided them to Reyes, who cashed the checks at his business. Reyes kept a portion of each check cashed. The scheme netted $3,655,368 in false claims paid by the U.S. Treasury.
The government seized $48,933 during the course of the investigation. As part of the sentence, Judge Conaboy imposed a restitution obligation on Reyes for the remaining balance of $3,606,435.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division. Assistant United States Attorneys William Houser and Phillip J. Caraballo prosecuted the case.
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