Date: Jan. 17, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Eugene Jamar Thomas, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford to submitting false claims to the Internal Revenue Service. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, who is handling the case, stated that on his 2015 tax return, Thomas reported that he earned $819,934 of interest income in 2015 and that he had $818,834 of that income withheld and paid to the IRS as tax. Thomas falsely claimed that he was entitled to a refund of $495,655. After receiving the fraudulent refund, Thomas deposited the $482,017 check into two separate bank accounts. In September and October 2016, Thomas withdrew approximately $226,000 from these accounts. Subsequently, the IRS discovered the fraudulent filing and return, and immediately levied the bank accounts, recovering approximately $256,250. In actually, Thomas did not earn any interest income in 2015, did not have any interest income withheld, and was not entitled to any refund. In addition, on his 2016 tax return, Thomas again falsely claimed that he had earned $4,731,845 of interest income and had $4,683,641 of that income withheld and paid to the IRS. The IRS flagged the 2016 tax return and did not pay a $2,683,945 anticipated refund to Thomas. The plea is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Thomas Fattorusso, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Office. Sentencing is scheduled for April 25, 2024, before Judge Wolford.
