Tampa police discovered the identity theft after a traffic stop, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

TAMPA – A Tampa man was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison on charges stemming from the filing of fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said.

Cedric D. Moultry, 26, of Tampa) to five years and 10 months in federal prison for access device fraud and aggravated identity theft stemming from the filing of fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities. The court also ordered Moultry to forfeit more than $95,000, which is a portion of the proceeds traceable to the offenses, and to repay the IRS more than $509,000.

Moultry pleaded guilty Sept.11.

According to court documents, on Sept. 9, 2012, officers from the Tampa Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle that Moultry was driving. Moultry, who had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, was alone in the car.

During a search of the vehicle, officers recovered notebooks that contained names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, tax filing information, refund amounts, and debit card account information for more than 500 identity theft victims. Moultry’s finger and palm prints were recovered from various pages of the notebooks.

Subsequent investigation revealed that about 214 fraudulent federal income tax returns had been electronically filed using some of the identities recovered from Moultry’s vehicle. The returns claimed refunds totaling about $1.8 million. The IRS released refunds totaling more than $509,000, all of which were directed to reloadable debit cards found in Moultry’s possession.

This case was investigated by the Tampa Police Department and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.

U.S. Attorney | Courts | Crime | Identity Theft | Tax Fraud | Tampabay News

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