IRS seizes most of Florida mans dollar 980,000 tax refund Miami Herald
February 16, 2019 02:00 PM
At a time when millions of Americans are bemoaning their smaller than expected tax refunds, consider this:
Ramon Christopher Blanchett of Tampa once got a refund of dollar 980,000. On a reported income of dollar 18,497.
As with most things involving the IRS, this story does not end happily, at least for Blanchett, 29. But it does display a degree of ingenuity, as outlined in a federal forfeiture complaint recently filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa:
In February 2017, Blanchett electronically submitted a self prepared income tax return listing his occupation as free lancer. He had W 2 forms from a Tampa nursing home and a Sizzling Platter restaurant in Murray, Utah. One W 2 showed dollar 17,098 in wages and dollar 1 million of federal income tax withholding. In reality, the complaint says, Blanchett was paid just dollar 2,098 and no tax was withheld. The other W 2, which was accurate, showed dollar 1,399 in income and no withholding.
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Based on Blanchetts submission of the tax return , falsely representing that dollar 1 million in taxes had been withheld, the U.S. Treasury issued checked number 4038088544305, made payable to Blanchett, for dollar 980,000, the complaint says.
Blanchett deposited the money into two accounts at SunTrust. After freezing the funds for suspected fraud, SunTrust closed the accounts last May and sent Blanchett a cashiers check for dollar 980,000. He used that to open a money market account with Grow Financial Credit Union, falsely representing that the funds were from the estate of his deceased father, the complaint says.
Blanchett then transferred various amounts among various Grow Financial accounts, ultimately withdrawing dollar 49,117 in the form of a cashiers check. On Aug. 9, he bought a 2016 silver Lexus RC350.
By this time, the IRS had realized it had a problem. Pursuant to a federal seizure warrant, an IRS special agent took custody of the Lexus and the remaining dollar 919,251 balance in Blanchetts accounts. The IRS is trying to get back another dollar 809, the amount Progressive Insurance refunded to Blanchett after he canceled his policy because he no longer had the car.
Last month, the U.S. Attorneys office in Tampa filed the forfeiture complaint for the Lexus and the dollar 919,251. A magistrate judge found that there is probable cause to believe that the dollar 809 insurance refund is the proceeds of Blanchetts wire fraud and is also subject to forfeiture. No date has been set for a hearing on the complaint.
Blanchett, who could not be reached for comment, has not been charged with a federal crime. He was arrested in Hillsborough County in 2016 for possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest without violence. He was ordered to pay dollar 274 after pleading guilty to resisting and a lesser offense on the paraphernalia charge. He also had a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge in 2014 but adjudication was withheld.
Neither the IRS nor the financial institutions involved would comment, citing privacy concerns. According to IRS records, in the year that Blanchett got his dollar 980,000 check the average tax refund was about dollar 3,000.
February 16, 2019 02:52 PM
A man attempted to breach a security checkpoint at Orlando International Airport. When he put his hand in his pocket, passengers screamed he had a gun, causing a panic. Police arrested the man, MOC resumed flights.
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