SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Brandon Anderson-Lacy, 29, of Fairfield, is scheduled to be arraigned today for a tax refund fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
On January 12, 2017, a federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment charging Anderson‑Lacy with conspiring to submit false claims for tax refunds to the Internal Revenue Service.
According to court documents, from February 2011 through March 2012, Anderson-Lacy and others participated in a conspiracy to submit false tax returns to the IRS by obtaining personal identifying information of others, and then submitting returns seeking refunds to which the people listed on the returns were not entitled. To pursue the refunds, false statements were placed on the tax returns regarding income, withholding from income, dependent care, and education expenses, among other things. In addition to the conspiracy charge, Anderson-Lacy is charged with making false claims in connection with eight returns filed in January 2012, each of which falsely listed $18,909 in wages and sought thousands of dollars in refunds. More than $319,000 in refunds were claimed in connection with the conspiracy.
This case is the product of an investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigation with the assistance from the Vacaville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher S. Hales is prosecuting the case.
If convicted of conspiracy to submit false claims, Anderson-Lacy faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted on the false claims counts, Anderson-Lacy faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.