A Sacramento woman had been sentenced to five years in prison for her role in a $1.3 million tax refund fraud scheme.
Tomisha Lee McKinnie, 25, was sentenced today in Sacramento by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. McKinnie also was ordered to pay $962,079 in restitution and will be subject to three years of supervised release following her time in prison, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.
McKinnie and co-defendants Nadiyah Muhammad Woods, 33, and Nakia Renee Vaughn, 26, also of Sacramento,conspired to defraud the United States by filing false tax returns using TurboTax, a commercial Internet tax-filing service, according to court documents. To obtain money from the false tax return filings, the women used a TurboTax service that loaded debit cards with the tax return money after the return was filed and approved. The defendants had the debit cards and checks mailed to various addresses under their control in Sacramento County.
In addition to filing fraudulent tax returns, the three posed as victim taxpayers to activate debit cards, cash checks and obtain cash, goods and services, officials said. The scheme involved more than 280 false tax returns and more than 200 victim taxpayers. They attempted to obtain $1,366,427 and the IRS paid $962,079.
Wood and Vaughn previously pleaded guilty. Vaughn is to be sentenced Dec. 5 and Woods on Dec. 12.
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