Police Log

Posted 3/19/15

LABOR FRAUD

The office of Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin on Monday announced that Pedro Diaz, 40, with a last known address of 374 Webster Ave. in Cranston, pleaded nolo contendere to one …

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Police Log

Posted

LABOR FRAUD

The office of Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin on Monday announced that Pedro Diaz, 40, with a last known address of 374 Webster Ave. in Cranston, pleaded nolo contendere to one count of obtaining money under false pretenses for collecting more than $19,000 in unemployment insurance benefits while he was working and failed to report his wages.

Diaz was sentenced to six years probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $19,010.

According to Kilmartin’s office, the state was prepared to prove Diaz failed to report weekly earnings to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training while he was collecting unemployment benefits and working at the Rhode Island Convention Center.

Additional, Kilmartin’s office announced that Katrina C. Roy, 33, with a last known address of 35 River St. in Cranston, pleaded no contest before Providence Superior Court Magistrate Patrick Burke to collecting nearly $18,000 in unemployment insurance benefits while she was working full time for Lifespan Corporation.

Roy was sentenced to 10 years probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $17,924.

PHANTOM KIDS

The office of U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha has announced that on Monday, Evelyn Nunez, 40, of Providence, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $1.4 million dollars in restitution to the IRS and the state of Rhode Island for her role in stealing personal information for minors named as dependents on legitimate tax returns prepared by her company, NBP Multiservices (NBP), a tax preparation business in Cranston.

At sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi ordered Nunez to serve two years of supervised released upon completion of her prison term. Nunez pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to defraud the government and aggravated identity theft in December of last year.

Two co-defendants also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Tashia Bodden, 37, of Cranston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government and aggravated identity theft. Wendy Molina, 40, of Cranston, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy.

According to Neronha’s office, the Scheme Development Center, a division of the IRS, conducted an analysis of tax returns prepared by individuals working at NBP and identified questionable children claimed as dependents. The claims led to the refunding of hundreds of thousands of dollars under the Earned Income Credit available to low-income taxpayers.

According to court records and information presented to the court, an investigation revealed that, between January 2008 and February 2012, taxpayers bought the false dependents for approximately $600 to $700 each. The investigation revealed that dozens of children were said to be foster children, nieces and nephews of some of their clients. In reality, they had no relation to the taxpayer.

The scheme defrauded the IRS of more than $1.34 million and the state of Rhode Island of more than $65,500.

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