Illegal Immigrants Sentenced In IRS Fraud Scheme | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Don Carrington, who is executive editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

'Eli Valle' also found on Wake County voter registration rolls

    RALEIGH     Two Honduran men living illegally in eastern North Carolina each will spend more than four years in federal prison for their roles in a scheme to collect millions of dollars in federal income tax refunds filed under fictitious identities, one of which was used to register to vote in Wake County.

    The pair filed fraudulent tax returns in excess of $2.5 million. One of their aliases, "Eli Valle," is listed as a registered unaffiliated voter in Wake County and was put on the voting rolls a few weeks before the Honduran illegal immigrants were arrested.

    The men were arrested in March 2013, pleaded guilty in November, and were sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Raleigh. Their scheme, often referred to as stolen identity refund fraud, or SIRF, is similar to others reported by Carolina Journal.

    U.S. District Court Judge Earl Britt sentenced Mardoqueo Mejia Fajardo to 51 months in prison and Jorge Ernesto Tinoco to 52 months. Both Fajardo and Tinoco are residing in the United States illegally and will be turned over to immigration officials when their prison terms are over. Britt also required each to make $1,467,117 in restitution payments to the Internal Revenue Service.

    Appearing disturbed at the nature of the crimes, Britt said in court, "See what damage he [Fajardo] has done to the United States government with this scheme." Britt cited two concerns: the men's status as illegal immigrants and their theft of federal tax dollars.

    Each defendant relied on a court-supplied interpreter to communicate with Britt. Fajordo declined to comment when given the opportunity, but Tinoco spoke about his religious faith, citing his relationship with God on at least eight occasions.

    Court documents stated each defendant used other primary names. Fajardo also was known as Diego Jesus Cruz Godoy or Carlos Roberto Mejia. Tinoco also was known as Eli Valle. "Eli Valle" showed up as a newly registered voter in Wake County a month before Tinoco was arrested.

    The investigation involved the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Postal Service, and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Menzer prosecuted the case.

    Scheme details

    According to court documents, Fajardo, Tinoco, and other unnamed conspirators created numerous fictitious identities by using forged documents. They used those documents to obtain an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number for each fake identity. They also obtained ITINs for children who didn't exist or didn't live in North Carolina. Instead of a Social Security Number, the IRS issues an ITIN to non-citizen taxpayers and each of their dependents to process individual income tax returns.

    Using fictitious names and identification documents, they rented U.S. Postal Service boxes in the eastern North Carolina towns of Wallace, Burgaw, Beulaville, Albertson, Willard, Roseboro, Aden, and Winterville.

    They then obtained the Employer Identification Numbers from legitimate companies and created false W-2 earnings statements "making it appear that the purported taxpayers were employed by the legitimate companies, earning wages and paying federal income taxes through withholdings," a court document states. Pork producer Murphy Farms was frequently listed as the employer.

    They filed a tax return for each fictitious identity and enclosed the false W-2 earnings statement. Each typically resulted in a refund of $7,000 to $8,000, as they listed several phony children as dependents.

    They directed the refunds to go to the mailboxes they had rented under fictitious names. When the checks arrived, they cashed them and transferred most of the money electronically to Honduras.

    Voter registration

    The Eli Valle registered to vote in North Carolina appears to be an illegal alien using a fabricated identity, based on voter registration documents and records obtained by prosecutors. Documents show that Fajardo was arrested at 709 Valparaiso St., Wallace, N.C. Tinoco also used the name Eli Valle, but CJ was unable to determine where he was arrested or where he lived when he was arrested.

    Tinoco possessed a valid North Carolina driver license under the name Eli Valle that he obtained using a fraudulent birth certificate and Social Security card, according to court documents.

    State Board of Elections records show that only one registered voter in North Carolina uses the name Eli Valle and that he lives on Lake Woodard Drive in Raleigh. He is an unaffiliated, Hispanic or Latino male who registered to vote Feb. 1, 2013, by way of the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles, most likely using the mechanisms of the "motor-voter" law. The sequence of events indicates that Valle moved to Raleigh and went to DMV to have his address changed.

    Wake County Elections Board Deputy Director Gary Sims provided CJ with a copy of Eli Valle's voter registration application. Sims said state law requires him to redact three items: Valle's driver license number, his date of birth, and his actual signature.

    One item that remains public information is the applicant's previous address, which Valle listed as 709 Valparaiso Street, Wallace — the location where Fajardo was arrested.