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f!LED by ___ D.C.
SE ALED e p: i:r1 - o 1nrt
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT^ ~I^ S;E~::~CLERK U S^ M.^ ~A:l'l~ORE DIST CT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA S^ D^ of^ FLA - FT^ LAUD.
cAsE No. 1 ·7 _ LCC.l-1 ~; -CJ(. rnc re nc
18 u.s.c. § 371
18 u.s.c. § 1343
18 U.S.C. § 1028A
18 u.s.c. § 2
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
vs. (^) vOr,t.d^ Ce, ,I^ '1edOrJ/^ e,f!(1 ,he,^ i .;t^ n ,.u.'^ ll' II ..
ISRAEL TASSY, aka Lou,^ h^ ..^ v nU.^ ~-^ Vo^^ [.^ ...1c,trrct^ 1·rr1,r^ c,^^ .irt,L.',
EVENS JULIEN, aka Chulo and
JEAN LEROY DESTINE, aka Dolo,^1 r^ ~T(JL^ ~;~;}/x?.11;
Defendants. ,J/.9^ lt^1
I
INDICTMENT
The Grand Jury charges that: INTRODUCTION At all times relevant to this Indictment: I.The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") was an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury responsible for administering the tax laws of the United States, and collecting taxes owed to the United States.
- An Electronic Filing Identification Number ( "EFIN") was a number assigned by the IRS to tax return preparers that were accepted into the electronic filing program ("e-file"). To become an authorized IRS e-file provider, a preparer had to submit an application and undergo a screening process to ensure that he or she was not a convicted felon.
- A Preparer Tax Identification Number ("PTlN") was a number required of all tax return preparers who are compensated for preparing, or assisting in the preparation of, all or
r
substantially all of any United States federal tax return, claim for refund, or other tax form
submitted to the IRS with limited exceptions. Beginning on January 1, 2011, all paid tax return
preparers needed to have a PTIN.
4. A Refund Anticipation Loan was a short-term consumer loan made in anticipation of a
consumer's tax return being accepted and a refund being paid by the IRS. If the loan was
approved, the financial institution authorized the return preparer to print the check and disburse
the funds to the taxpayer. The major financial institution involved in the RAL program was Santa
Barbara Tax Product Group ("Santa Barbara Tax") and its affiliated institutions which initially
offered Refund Anticipation Loans until 2010 for the tax year 2009. Thereafter, SBTPT and its
affiliated institutions offered a Refund Transfer formerly known as a Refund Anticipation Loan),
which was a bank product that allowed tax preparation and bank fees to be deducted from the
refund issued by the United States Department of the Treasury and paid to the taxpayer in the
form of a check.
5. A Service Bureau was a software platform that enabled a collection of EFINS and
related financial products to be registered and serviced by a centralized individual or entity. A
service bureau offered tax preparation software and financial products software to return
preparers. The service bureau received a percentage of the tax return fees generated from the
EFINS registered with the service bureau.
6. Advent Financial ("Advent") was a financial tax products company which made tax
refunds immediately available to its customers. Advent issued Refund Transfers for returns filed
using EFIN's registered to service bureaus with Advent.
District of Florida and elsewhere, the defendants,
ISRAEL TASSY, aka Lou,
EVENS JULIEN, aka Chulo and
JEAN LEROY DESTINE, aka Dolo,
knowingly and willfully conspired and agreed with each other, and with other persons both
known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to:
a. defraud the United States by impeding, impairing, obstructing and defeating the lawful
governmental functions of the Internal Revenue Service of the Department of the Treasury in the
ascertainment, computation, assessment and collection of the revenue, that is, federal income
taxes;
b. commit an offense against the United States, that is, to knowingly and intentionally
devise and intend to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud, and for obtaining money or property
by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises, and by omissions of
material fact, and, for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice, transmit and cause to
be transmitted, by means of wire communication in interstate commerce certain writings, signs,
signals, pictures and sounds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343;
c. commit an offense against the United States, that is, during and in relation to a felony
violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, to knowingly transfer, possess and use,
without lawful authority, the means of identification of another person, in violation of Title 18,
United States Code, Section 1028A.
OBJECT OF THE CONSPIRACY
- It was the purpose and object of the conspiracy for the defendants and their co conspirators to unjustly enrich themselves by obtaining federal income tax refunds from the IRS to which they were not entitled.
MANNER AND MEANS OF THE CONSPIRACY
- The manner and means by which the defendants and their co-conspirators sought to accomplish the purpose and object of this conspiracy, included, among other things, the following: a. One or more of the co-conspirators would and did recruit knowing co-conspirators and other individuals to put businesses, bank accounts and EFINs in their names, through which fraudulent transactions would be conducted; b. One or more of the co-conspirators would and did use, or recruit others to use, without lawful authority, the means of identification of actual individuals, some deceased, to prepare and file false, fictitious and fraudulent income tax returns with the IRS; c. One or more of the co-conspirators would and did obtain possession of fraudulently obtained refunds in the form of pre-paid debit cards and United States Treasury, Refund Anticipation Loan and Refund Transfer checks diverted to addresses or into bank accounts that they caused to be created and controlled; e. One or more of the co-conspirators would and did take steps to conceal the existence of the conspiracy.
g. On or about October 28, 2010, defendant EVENS JULIEN signed and submitted an EFIN application to participate in the IRS e-file program, listing himself as the principal and responsible official. h. On or about November 29, 2010, defendants ISRAEL TASSY and JEAN LEROY DESTINE caused an EFIN application to be signed and submitted to the IRS, by T.L.M as the principal and responsible official. i. On or about December 2, 2010, defendants ISRAEL TASSY and JEAN LEROY DESTINE caused T.Y. to sign and submit an EFIN application to the IRS, as the principal and responsible official. j. On or about December 10, 2010, defendants ISRAEL TASSY and JEAN LEROY DESTINE caused the IRS to assign and activate EFIN 604403 for a sole-proprietorship with T.L.M. as the principal and responsible official. k. On or about December 10, 2010, defendants ISRAEL TASSY and JEAN LEROY DESTINE caused the IRS to assign and activate EFIN 604405 for a sole-proprietorship with T.Y. as the principal and responsible official. m. On or about December 21, 2010, defendant EVENS JULIEN caused the IRS to assign and activate EFIN 604134 for a sole-proprietorship with EVENS JULIEN as the principal and responsible official. n. On or about January 6, 2011, defendant EVENS JULIEN caused EFIN 604134 to be registered with Santa Barbara Tax under ATFS, listing EVENS JULIEN as the contact. o. From on or about January 12, 2011, to on or about February 9, 2011, defendant ISRAEL TASSY received a total of approximately $70,113, in tax preparation fees, into Wachovia
account, ending in 4292, from Santa Barbara Tax, each such receipt constituting an overt act. p. From on or about January 15, 2011, to on or about July 6, 2011, defendants ISRAEL TASSY and JEAN LEROY DESTINE filed or caused to be filed 686 tax returns for tax year 2010 using EFIN 604405 in the name of T.Y., requesting refunds totaling $2,843,679, each such filing constituting an overt act. q. From on or about January 15, 2011, to on or about April 4, 2011, defendant EVENS JULIEN filed or caused to be filed, 321 tax returns for tax year 2010, using EFIN 604134, requesting refunds totaling $957,444, each such filing constituting an overt act. r. From on or about January 15, 2011, to on or about October 4, 2011, defendants ISRAEL TASSY and JEAN LEROY DESTINE filed or caused to be filed 439 tax returns for tax year 2010 using EFIN 604403 in the name ofT.L.M., requesting refunds totaling $1,343,267, each such filing constituting an overt act. s. On or about January 31, 2011, defendant ISRAEL TASSY caused B & B Financial Tax Services LLC to be registered as a limited liability company with the Florida Department 0f State, Division of Corporations, listing T.L.M. as the president and registered agent and ISRAEL TASSY as the vice president. t. On or about January 31, 2011, defendant ISRAEL TASSY caused N & B Tax Services LLC to be registered as a limited liability company with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, listing T.Y. as president and registered agent and ISRAEL TASSY as the vice president.
u. On or about February 2, 2011, defendant EVENS JULIEN caused ATFS to be registered
as a for-profit corporation with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, listing
Barbara Tax, $153,838 in service bureau return preparation fees from Petz Enterprises, $24, in checks from Santa Barbara Tax, $1,243 in tax refund checks from Ohio Valley Bank and $19,800 in money orders, each such deposit constituting an overt act. cc. From on or about January 13, 2012, to on or about March 11, 2012, defendants ISRAEL TASSY and JEAN LEROY DESTINE filed, or caused to be filed, 330 tax returns for tax year 2011 using EFIN 604405 in the name of T.Y., requesting refunds totaling $1,663,490, each such filing constituting an overt act. dd. From on or about January 24, 2012, to on or about March 2, 2012, defendant EVENS JULIEN filed or caused to be filed, 144 tax returns for tax year 2011, using EFIN 604134, requesting refunds totaling $702,450, each such filing constituting an overt act. ee. In and around January 2012, defendant EVENS JULIEN caused the EFINS belonging to T.Y. and T.L.M. to be registered jointly with his Advent service bureau account, which was created for the purpose of filing fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities. ff. From on or about January 24, 2012, to on or about September 5, 2013, defendant EVENS JULIEN maintained approximately 25 EFINS in his service bureau in order to facilitate the filing of fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities. gg. On or about July 23, 2012, defendant EVENS JULIEN caused an $8,000 check to be issued to J D & M Marketing Investment LLC, from a Wells Fargo Bank, NA account ending in 8964, at in the name of A TFS, in order to funnel fraudulently obtained tax refund proceeds to co conspirator Dukens Eleazard. hh. From on or about January 17, 2012, to on or about October 5, 2012, defendants ISRAEL TASSY and JEAN LEROY DESTINE filed, or caused to be filed, 309 tax returns for tax year
2011, using EFIN 604403, requesting refunds totaling $1,192,194, each such filing constituting an overt act. ii. In or about October 2012, defendant EVENS JULIEN caused EFIN 604134 to be registered with Advent, which provided tax preparer refund settlement programs through United Missouri Bank, and directed that all preparation fees be deposited to a Wells Fargo bank account, ending in 8964. jj. On or about December 11, 2012, defendant EVENS JULIEN caused the IRS to assign and activate EFIN 609303 for Ben Franks Financial LLC, with J.J. as the principal and responsible official. kk. In or around 2012, defendant ISRAEL TASSY caused B&B Financial Tax Services LLC to be registered with Ingenicard, a company that provided tax preparers refund settlement programs using prepaid debit cards, under the names T.Y., and R.S., and created, and caused to be created, a JPMorgan Chase account, ending in 0176, to receive the tax preparation fees.
- From on or about January 29, 2014, to on or about October 21, 2014, defendant EVENS JULIEN filed or caused to be filed, 211 tax returns for tax year 2013, using EFIN 609303, requesting refunds totaling $1,029,191, each such filing constituting an overt act. mm. On or about January 27, 2015, defendant EVENS JULIEN caused EFIN 609579 to be placed on his service bureau with Rightway Tax Solutions in the name of A.B. All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 3 71.
COUNTS TWO THROUGH EIGHT
(Wire Fraud - 18 U.S.C. § 1343)
- The allegations contained in Paragraphs 1 through 11 of the Introduction Section of this Indictment are incorporated by reference as though re-alleged in their entirety herein.
COUNT DEFENDANT DATE WIRE COMMUNICATION
Two (^) ISRAEL TASSY and JEAN LEROY DESTINE
February 11, 2012
an electronically filed Federal Income Tax Return, to the IRS, in the name of"V.H." Three ISRAEL TASSY and JEAN LEROY DESTINE
February 13, 2012
an electronically filed Federal Income Tax Return, to the IRS, in the name of "B.L." Four ISRAEL TASSY May 28, 2013 an electronically filed FederalIncome Tax Return, to the IRS, in the name of "L.G." Five EVENS JULIEN (^) August 13, 2014^ an electronically filed FederalIncome Tax Return, to the IRS, in the name of "S.M." Six EVENS JULIEN (^) August 27, 2014 an electronically filed Federal Income Tax Return, to the IRS, in the name of "J.T." Seven JEAN LEROYDESTINE^ September 16, 2014 an electronically filed FederalIncome Tax Return, to the IRS, in the name of"K.W." Eight JEAN LEROY DESTINE October 10, 2014
an electronically filed Federal Income Tax Return, to the IRS, in the name of "T.W." All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 2.
COUNTS NINE THROUGH FIFTEEN
(Aggravated Identity Theft - 18 U.S.C. § 1028A)
- The allegations contained in Paragraphs 1 through 11 of the Introduction Section of this Indictment are incorporated by reference, as though re-alleged in their entirety herein.
- On or about the dates listed below, at Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, in the Southern District of Florida and elsewhere, the below-listed defendants, during and in relation to a felony violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, that is, knowingly and
intentionally devising and intending to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud, and for obtaining money and property from others by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, and by omissions of material fact, and for the purpose of executing the scheme and artifice, transmitted, and caused to be transmitted, by means of wire communication in interstate commerce, certain writings, signs, signals, pictures and sounds, as charged in Counts Two through Eight of this Indictment, did knowingly possess and use, without lawful authority, the means of identification of other persons, as more specifically described in each Count below:
COUNT DEFENDANT DATE MEANS OF IDENTIFICATION Nine
ISRAEL
TASSYand JEAN LEROY DESTINE
February 11, 2012
SSN xxx-xx-0337, belonging to "V.H.," used ~o submit a fraudulent federal income tax return Ten ISRAELTASSYand JEAN LEROY DESTINE
February 13, 2012 SSN xxx-xx-2634, belonging to "B.L.," used tosubmit a fraudulent federal income tax return
Eleven ISRAEL TASSY May^ 28, 2013^
SSN xxx-xx-1407, belonging to "L.G.," used o submit a fraudulent federal income tax teturn
Twelve
EVENS
JULIEN August 13, 2014
SSN xxx-xx-1999, belonging to "S.M.," used fo submit a fraudulent federal income tax return Thirteen (^) JULIENEVENS August 27, 2014^ SSN xxx-xx-0759, belonging to "J.T.," used tosubmit a fraudulent federal income tax return
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA^ UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT UNITED ST ATES OF AMERICA CASE NO. vs. CERTIFICATE OF TRIAL ATTORNEY ISRAELEVENS JULIEN, TASSEY, aka aka Chulo Lou, and JEAN LEROY DESTINE, aka Dolo, Defendants.* / Superseding Case Information:
Court Division: (Select One) New Defendant(s) Number of New Defendants MiamiFTL ____X_ Key WestWPB __ _ (^) FTP Total number of counts I do hereby certify that: I. I have carefully considered the allegationsand the legal complexities of the Indictment/Information attached hereto. of the indictment, the number of defendants, the number of probable witnesses
- I am aware that the information supplied on this statement will be relied upon by the Judgescalendars and scheduling criminal trials under the mandate of the Speedy Trial Act, Title 28 U.S.C. Section of this Court in setting their 3 161.
- Interpreter:List language and/or dialect (Yes or No) NO
- This case will take 6 days for the parties to try.
- (^) (Check only one)Please check appropriate category and type of offense listed below: (Check only one) III 0 to6 to 510 days days (^) X PettyMinor IIIIV 2111 toto 60 days20 days Misdem.Felony X V 61 days and over If^ 6.^ yes: Has this case been previously filed in this District Court? (Yes or No)^ NO Judge:(Attach c (^) opy of dispositive order) Case No. Has a complaint been filed in this matter? If yes: Magistrate Case No. (Yes or No) NO Related Miscellaneous numbers:Defendant(s) in federal custody as of Defendant(s) in state custodyRule 20 from the as of District of Is this a potential death penalty case? (Yes or No) __^ Yes^ **-~X~** No
- (^) 2003?Does this case originate from a matter pending in the Northern Region ___ Yes No X^ of^ the U.S. Attorney's Office prior to October 14,
- Does this case originate from a matter pending in the Central Region2007? ___ Yes No _X of the U.S. Attorney's Office prior to September I,
NEIL KARADBILASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY Florida Bar No.
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDAUNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
PENALTY SHEET
Defendant's Name: ISRAEL TASSY aka Lou
Case No: ~------------ Count#: I Conspiracy to Defraud the United States in violation of Title 18 United States Code Section 371 assessment^ *^ Max. Penalty:^ Five (5) years' imprisonment, three (3) years' supervised release, $250,000 fine, $100 special Count#: 2, 3, 4 Wire Fraud in violation of Title 18 United States Code Sections 1343 and 2 *assessment Max. Penalty: Twenty (20) years' imprisonment, three (3) years' supervised release, $250,000 fine, $100 special Counts#: 9, 10, II Aggravated Identity Theft in violation of Title I 8 United States Code Sections I 028A and 2 release, $250,000 fine, $100 special assessment^ *Max.Penalty:^ Two (2) years' consecutive imprisonment to any other sentence imposed, one^ (I)^ year supervised Count#:
*Max. Penalty: *Refers only to possible term of incarceration, does not include possible fines, restitution, special assessments, parole terms or forfeitures that may be applicable.
r~LE~ by ___ D.C. SEALED (^) i t"C''.'.! I I r.~t- -^9 20'7,,I UNITED ST ATES DISTRICT COURT^ I, SSTEVENCLERK 0. of FLA. - U.^ M. S.^ LARIMORE DISTFT. LAUD. CT. SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA (^) ~'" cAsE No. 1 7- tC"CL-t ~2: -CK - - rric (enc~
18 u.s.c. § 371
18 u.s.c. § 1343
18 U.S.C. § 1028A
18 u.s.c. § 2
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
vs. ISRAEL TASSY, aka Lou, EVENSJEAN LEROY JULIEN, DESTINE, aka Chulo aka and Dolo, Defendants. I INDICTMENT The Grand Jury charges that: INTRODUCTION At all times relevant to this Indictment: I.The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") was an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury responsible for administering the tax laws of the United States, and collecting taxes owed to the United States.
- An Electronic Filing Identification Number ( "EFIN") was a number assigned by the IRS to tax return preparers that were accepted into the electronic filing program ("e-file"). To become an authorized IRS e-file provider, a preparer had to submit an application and undergo a screening process to ensure that he or she was not a convicted felon.
- A Preparer Tax Identification Number ("PTIN") was a number required of all tax return preparers who are compensated for preparing, or assisting in the preparation of, all or
substantially all of any United States federal tax return, claim for refund, or other tax forn submitted to the IRS with limited exceptions. Beginning on January 1, 2011, all paid tax return preparers needed to have a PTIN.
- A Refund Anticipation Loan was a short-term consumer loan made in anticipation of a consumer's tax return being accepted and a refund being paid by the IRS. If the loan was approved, the financial institution authorized the return preparer to print the check and disburse the funds to the taxpayer. The major financial institution involved in the RAL program was Santa Barbara Tax Product Group ("Santa Barbara Tax") and its affiliated institutions which initially offered Refund Anticipation Loans until 2010 for the tax year 2009. Thereafter, SBTPT and its affiliated institutions offered a Refund Transfer formerly known as a Refund Anticipation Loan), which was a bank product that allowed tax preparation and bank fees to be deducted from the refund issued by the United States Department of the Treasury and paid to the taxpayer in the form of a check.
- A Service Bureau was a software platform that enabled a collection of EFINS and related financial products to be registered and serviced by a centralized individual or entity. A service bureau offered tax preparation software and financial products software to return preparers. The service bureau received a percentage of the tax return fees generated from the EFINS registered with the service bureau.
- Advent Financial ("Advent") was a financial tax products company which made tax refunds immediately available to its customers. Advent issued Refund Transfers for returns filed using EFIN's registered to service bureaus with Advent.
