Non-Existent Employees, Shell Companies, and Over $800K in Fraudulent Tax Refunds Nets Federal Prison Sentence
SANTA ANA – The Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office has announced that Julien Jitt Noel (37) of Placentia was sentenced last Friday to over five years in federal prison for a fraudulent tax refunds.
Noel participated in a scheme that filed fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service and sought over $800,000 in refunds based on non-existent employees at two shell companies. Noel established a bogus company – Above Average Allstars – to serve as a fraudulent employer. Noel filed 45 fraudulent tax returns in 2009 and 2010 that sought $195,344 in refunds.
A second shell company, Picaso Fashions, had no employees for refunds claimed in fraudulent tax returns. Noel conspired to file or directly filed a total of 114 fraudulent returns, and the IRS paid full or partial tax refunds on 100 of these returns, sustaining actual losses of $605,294. Members of the conspiracy fraudulently filed 69 individual federal tax returns during 2009 that claimed tax refunds totaling $621,589.
The prosecution, Assistant United States Attorneys Aron Ketchel of the Violent and Organized Crime Section and Jamie A. Lang of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, presented evidence at this week’s trial showing that Noel and two co-conspirators prepared and filed fraudulent tax returns, most of which were filed in the names of individuals with stolen identities. The fraudulent tax returns stated that the taxpayers were employed by Picaso Fashions, which purportedly withheld excessive taxes from their paychecks.
The investigation in this case was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation. Co-conspirator Antonio Jerome Cook(39) of Long Beach, was sentenced in March 2016 to four years in federal in prison and was ordered to pay restitution of $537,309 for his role in the scheme. Rebecca Magruder (38) of Dallas was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $119,671.
A five-day jury trial in March found Noel guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and five counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns.
Noel, who’s been in federal custody since this case was indicted in the spring of 2015, was sentenced last Friday to 63 months in prison. United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton further ordered Noel to pay $605,294 in restitution to the IRS.
