David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Hector Medina, 32, of the Bronx, NY, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford to 27 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his involvement in a tax fraud and identity theft scheme.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between October and December 2010, Medina and others obtained at least 35 U.S. Treasury income tax refund checks. The majority of these checks were obtained as a result of the filing of fraudulent tax returns, with false W-2 forms attached, on behalf of citizens of Puerto Rico without their knowledge or consent. As part of the scheme, Matilde Fabian-Pichardo used her position as a bank teller in Stamford to cash the fraudulent checks presented to her by Medina and others by using the legitimate accounts of bank customers.
This scheme resulted in a loss of approximately $185,000 to the Internal Revenue Service. In addition, members of the conspiracy cashed 19 fraudulently obtained state tax refund checks from New York and North Carolina, resulting in an additional loss of approximately $19,000.
Medina was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $204,000.
On Friday, January 27, 2012, Medina pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. Fabian-Pichardo also has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.
This investigation is being conducted by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the United States Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Greenwich Police Department and the Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Douglas Morabito and Ndidi Moses.
