Zim man faces up to 10 years in US jail and a $250k fine for tax fraud

A Zimbabwe citizen pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Delaware of bilking the government out of more than $100,000 by filing fake tax returns, officials said Friday.
Tendayi Mandere will be sentenced Aug. 22 on federal charges of aggravated identity theft and false claims conspiracy, said Kimberlynn Reeves, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Mandere is accused of filing more than 130 false individual federal income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service by obtaining the names and Social Security numbers of individuals supplied by his co-conspirators.

He then filed false tax returns electronically over the Internet, fabricating wage information and withholding taxes on the returns. Mandere sought more than $600,000 in refunds, according to court documents and statements made in court. The IRS rejected most of the returns.

As part of a plea agreement, Mandere acknowledged that he was responsible to make restitution to the IRS in the amount of $114,000, which was the amount he and his co-conspirators amassed in the tax scheme, Reeves said.

"Stealing identities and filing false tax returns is a serious crime that hurts innocent taxpayers," said Akeia Conner, special agent in charge of the IRS field office in Philadelphia.

When sentenced before U.S. District Judge Richard Andrews in August, Mandere faces up to 10 years in jail and a maximum $250,000 fine on the false claims charge, and a mandatory 2-year prison term and up to a $250,000 fine on the aggravated identify theft charge, plus a maximum three years supervision on each offense.