West Frankfort man sentenced to 2 years for collecting false income tax refunds | Crime

WEST FRANKFORT, IL (KFVS) - United States Attorney Stephen R. Wigginton says a West Frankfort man was sentenced to two years in prison for receiving nearly $1 million in fraudulent income tax refunds.

David R. Childers, 38, was sentenced to two years for receiving fraudulent refunds from false income tax returns submitted to the Internal Revenue Service between 2008 and 2010.

Wigginton says on Aug. 11, 2011, Childers and his wife, Jessica N. Childers, 35, also of West Frankfort, were charged with information conspiracy to submit false, fictitious and fraudulent claims to U.S. and receipt of money stolen from the U.S. His wife was also charged with aggravated identity theft. Both pleaded guilty to the offense which they were charged.

According to Wigginton, evidence showed that in January 2008, Jessica Childers began electronically submitting false income tax returns to the IRS using the names, dates of birth and social security numbers of real people who were deceased. Between January 2008 and March 2010, Jessica Childers submitted 572 such false returns claiming entitlement to $1,532,184 in refunds. For those claims, both Childers actually received $998,614.34. Wigginton said the money came primarily in the form of direct electronic deposits into David Childers' bank account. After discovering the scam, federal authorities were able to seize $192,512.55 from his bank account of the nearly $1 million he actually received.

In addition to the two year term, David Childers was ordered to pay $806,101.79 in restitution to the U.S. Treasury and special assessment of $200 and was placed on a term of three years supervised release to follow his incarceration.

Jessica Childers was sentenced on Jan. 13, 2012 to a nine year prison term for her role in the scheme. She was ordered to pay $806,101.79 restitution to the IRS.

Under federal law, parole has been abolished meaning that both Childers will be required to serve a minimum of 85 percent of their sentences.

The investigation into the case was conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James M. Cutchin.

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