Woman pleads guilty to $7.5 million identity-theft scheme

A Phenix City woman pleaded guilty in Montgomery on Wednesday to conspiracy and aggravated identity theft involving a $7.5 million identity-theft refund fraud

Talashia Hinton pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to using information stolen from state of Alabama databases maintained by the state of Alabama to file false tax returns and steal millions from the government.

The indictment contends that Hinton worked with co-conspirators to file more than 3,000 false tax returns for 2012 and 2013, claiming more than $7.5 million in federal income tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service.

Hinton worked with Keisha Lanier, who supplied her with IRS electronic filing identification numbers in the names of sham tax businesses and stolen identities that included personal information so that Hinton could prepare and file false tax returns to claim refunds using the stolen identities, according to court documents.

At the direction of Lanier, Hinton also obtained identities from Tamika Floyd, who stole names from databases maintained by the state of Alabama. The false returns directed the IRS to pay the refunds by issuing U.S. Treasury checks and direct deposits onto prepaid debit cards, according to Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George L. Beck Jr. of the Middle District of Alabama.

Tamika Floyd was sentenced to serve seven years and three months in prison on May 19. Lanier is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 24 and other defendants involved in the scheme were sentenced on Aug. 7. A sentencing date for Hinton has not yet been scheduled.

Ciraolo and Beck commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Michael C. Boteler and Gregory P. Bailey of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross of the Middle District of Alabama, who are prosecuting the case.