Former Boca Resident Sentenced to 66 Months for Fraud/ID Theft
A former Boca Raton man who ran a Pompano Beach tax-preparation business was sentenced last week to a total of 66 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in May to illegally using the identities of people with cerebral palsy and imprisoned inmates to file fraudulent tax returns.
According to court records, Wilson Lasset, 48, filed approximately 1,606 tax returns with the IRS in 2012. These tax returns included at least 25 returns filed using the names and social security numbers of individuals living with cerebral palsy who did not need to file tax returns and who did not authorize Lasset to file tax returns on their behalf. The unauthorized filings also included returns using the identities of approximately 386 incarcerated individuals. The fraudulent returns included falsely claimed earned income tax credits, based on false claims of earning income as “household help” employees, and falsely claimed education credits designed to reimburse college and other higher education expenses.
In total, Lasset’s filings claimed more than $2.7 million in fraudulent tax refunds. The IRS paid approximately $788,611 in refunds based on these fraudulent tax returns. Lasset used money deposited into this account to fund his travel and other personal expenses.
Lasset pleaded guilty to wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 and aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A. U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen M. Williams sentenced him to 42 months in prison on the wire fraud count of conviction, to be followed by a consecutive term of 24 months in prison for the crime of aggravated identity theft.