Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Nejah Prince (31, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to access device (credit card) fraud and making a false claim against the United States. She faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison on the access device fraud count and 5 years’ imprisonment on the false claims charge. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the plea agreement, in February 2013, officers from the Tampa Police Department conducted a search at the home where Prince resided. During the search, they found copies of confidential Veterans Affairs (VA) medical records, notebooks with the personal identification information of more than 200 persons, printed tax returns, and several computers. Further investigation revealed that Prince had used the identity of one person whose name was on a VA medical record to open a credit account at Montgomery Ward. She then made more than $1,300 in purchases using that account.
In addition, IRS agents discovered that Prince had been involved in the use of the identification information relating to another person in one of the VA medical forms to file a fraudulent income tax return seeking a refund of over $8,200. The IRS subsequently identified numerous fraudulent federal income tax returns that had been filed on behalf of many of the individuals whose identification information had been found at Prince’s residence. The total loss to the IRS from this scheme exceeds $173,000.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the Tampa Police Department, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and the United States Secret service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jay L. Hoffer and Sara Sweeney.