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57-Count Indictment Returned in Tampa Tax Fraud Case

On Behalf of | Dec 31, 2012 | Uncategorized

Unsurprisingly, a grand jury returned a fifty-seven-count indictment this month charging Rashia Wilson of Wimauma and Maurice Larry of Tampa with conspiracy and multiple counts of wire fraud, filing false tax returns, theft of government property, and aggravated identity theft. Wilson is charged with one count of conspiracy, nine counts of wire fraud, 19 counts of filing false tax returns, 14 counts of theft of government property and 14 counts of aggravated identity theft. Larry is charged with one count of conspiracy, nine counts of wire fraud, 17 counts of filing false tax returns, 13 counts of theft of government property and 13 counts of aggravated identity theft.

Wilson was arrested back in September on a weapons charge. But the investigating agency was the IRS. Investigators from the IRS had been watching Wilson for over a year.

During that time, investigators allege she drove a 2013 Audi bought with a $90,000 money order, and that she bragged about being the “First Lady” of tax refund fraud.

A May post on her Facebook page said, “I’m Rashia, the queen of IRS tax fraud. … I’m a millionaire for the record. So if you think that indicting me will be easy, it won’t. I promise you. I won’t do no time, dumb b–.”

In an affidavit filed in September, an IRS-CI special agent said investigators found a .22-caliber Walther beneath Wilson’s mattress, a cellphone photo of her with a pink firearm and a Facebook image of her with the Taurus at Shooting Sports Inc. Wilson, who has prior felony convictions for grand theft and burglary, is not permitted by law to own a gun.

Investigators found evidence at Wilson’s home in September that allegedly indicated fraudulent tax returns had very recently been filed. A search of the home reportedly turned up thousands of ID numbers and 40 reloadable debit cards.

Larry, and an associate, Marterrence “Quat” Holloway, were charged back in September on a separate 39-count indictment that accused them of conspiring to defraud the federal government, wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.

At a hearing related to the gun charge in September, a federal judge in Tampa denied Wilson bail, after hearing evidence of the potential tax fraud case against her.

Just before Christmas, United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill finally announced the return of the fifty-seven-count fraud indictment. If convicted, Wilson and Larry each face a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison on the conspiracy count; 20 years in federal prison on each wire fraud count; 5 years in federal prison on each count of filing a false tax return; 10 years in federal prison on each charge of theft of government property, all to be followed by two years in prison for each aggravated identity theft count. The indictment also notifies both individuals that the United States is seeking a money judgment in the amount of $1,176,787.00, the traceable proceeds of the tax fraud scheme.

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