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IR-2023-38, March 3, 2023 ¡ª The Internal Revenue Service issued a consumer alert today to warn taxpayers of new scams that urge people to use wage information on a tax return to claim false credits in hopes of getting a big refund.

May 10, 2024 ¡ª Andrew A. Wiederhorn, the former CEO and current controlling shareholder of the publicly traded Fat Brands Inc. (FAT), has been indicted on federal charges alleging a scheme to conceal $47 million in distributions he received in the form of shareholder loans from the IRS, FAT¡¯s minority shareholders, and the broader investing public, the Justice Department announced today.

December 14, 2023 ¡ª Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Thomas Fattorusso, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (CI), Naomi Gruchacz, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ¨C Office of the Inspector General ("HHS-OIG"), and Erin Keegan, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI"), announced the unsealing of an Indictment today charging Niranjan Mittal, a Brooklyn-based cardiologist, in connection with a scheme to fabricate patient records, pay physicians for patient referrals, and bill for medically unnecessary vascular procedures.

IR-2022-210, December 1, 2022 ¡ª As part of a broader effort to increase security, the Internal Revenue Service and the Security Summit partners today reminded taxpayers they could get extra protection starting in January by joining the agency¡¯s identity protection personal identification number (IP PIN) program.

Oct. 1, 2024 ¡ª The former comptroller general of Ecuador was sentenced today to 10 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $16.5 million for his role in a multimillion-dollar international bribery and money laundering scheme in which he received over $10 million in bribes and laundered those bribes payments in South Florida.

Oct. 31, 2024 ¡ª United States Attorney Zachry A. Cunha announced today that a Rhode Island mortgage broker who purported to match borrowers seeking short-term loans with private lenders seeking high rates of return admitted to a federal judge that he misappropriated more than $1.5 million dollars of investors¡¯ funds by using the money to repay earlier investors, support his own international investment opportunities, and to cover personal expenses.

Nov. 13, 2024 ¡ª The U.S. Attorney¡¯s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Kimberly Ann Tew of Denver, Colorado was sentenced to 48 months in prison, and Michael Tew of Denver, Colorado was sentenced to 42 months for their roles in a wire fraud scheme that defrauded National Air Cargo, a logistics company and contractor for the Department of Defense.

Aug. 8, 2024 ¡ª U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza has sentenced Avinash Singh of St. Cloud to 24 years in federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering. The court also ordered Singh to forfeit the $57 million in proceeds he obtained from his offenses, as well as real property that he purchased with those proceeds. Singh entered a guilty plea on May 6, 2024.

July 23, 2024 ¡ª James Christopher Robinson of Granite Falls, N.C., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release for tax and credit card fraud, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Robinson was also ordered to pay $4,434,225.44 in restitution.

July 31, 2023 ¡ª The United States Attorney¡¯s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Brian J. Albelli, of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and formerly of Deerfield Beach, Florida, was charged in a criminal information on July 27, 2023, with wire fraud and money laundering.