HOLLAND, Ohio — A northwest Ohio woman was sentenced to seven years in prison after a "wide-ranging" tax refund scheme against the Internal Revenue Service.
The Department of Justice said Teresia Jones, 34, of Holland, was sentenced to five years for wire fraud and money laundering, and an additional two years for aggravated identity theft. The sentences must be served consecutively.
Jones was also ordered to pay $2,929,519 in restitution, a $300 special assessment and must serve two years of supervised release, according to a press release from the DOJ Thursday.
The DOJ said that according to court records and testimony beginning in January 2020, Jones "submitted false and fraudulent tax filings using stolen identities and claiming millions of dollars in improper tax refunds."
According to the DOJ, Jones then used these funds for personal spending.
"This tax refund scheme used stolen identity information from real people and businesses," according to the DOJ. "Jones would then prepare and file these fraudulent tax returns electronically."
Jones laundered the funds by buying a 2022 Cadillac Escalade for more than $150,000, real property and other transactions, the DOJ said. The Cadillac, a 2022 Dodge Ram truck, two parcels of property and approximately $328,000 seized from bank accounts were forfeited by the government.
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