Reyes was recently arrested in Salem, Oregon after she fraudulently reported $3 million in wages on an income tax return she filed online through TurboTax and she claimed $2.1 million in refunds, which worked its way through the software’s system and was approved by the state.
A Visa debit card loaded with the refund was in her hands within a few weeks and Reyes, who resided in a modest apartment, began to spend the dough as if it was her birthday.
Unfortunately for her, she got caught when she reported ANOTHER state issued debit card lost or stolen, which prompted an investigation.
Details below…
According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Reyes reportedly used TurboTax, a tax preparation computer program, to file her 2011 tax income return and?claimed that she earned over $3,000,000.
She then used the tax program to claim a refund of $2,000,000.
The return was manually reviewed due to the unusually large amount, but Reyes was eventually sent the full refund as calculated on her return.
YahooNews?reports that?what’s bizarre about the situation is how Reyes was caught.
She reported another debit card as lost or stolen to the issuer, which apparently saw enough red flags to get the state’s revenue service on the case. The police affidavit doesn’t offer say how much cash was loaded on the second card or whether it was obtained by a fraudulent tax return as well.
When Reyes was taken into custody June 6, she had allegedly spent about $150,000 over a two-month period, including $2,000 on a Dodge Caravan and more than $800 in tires and wheels, according to police. It’s not clear from the report where the rest of the cash went, though it says she spent tens of thousands of dollars per week.
Reyes was booked into the Marion County Jail and charged with aggravated theft and computer crime. She was released and is scheduled to appear in court on July 5th.
Investigators have described the scam as one of the biggest the state of Oregon has ever seen! Officials are shocked about how easily Reyes was able to defraud the state.
The Oregon revenue department currently processes approximately 7 billion dollars a year in tax returns on outdated computer systems designed in the 1980s.
In January 2012, the state decided against a million dollar computer upgrade that would have eventually paid for itself by finding tax cheaters.
Three things….
1. Reyes had clearly gotten away with that scam before, so I’m confused as to why she was still living in an apartment?
2. Who the hell thinks they could do something like this and not get caught. and
3. Isn’t Oregon is partially at fault for using those old “A”zz computers?