Utah Man Accused of Filing False Claims for $875,218 in Tax Refunds
The Justice Department and the IRS announced that a Utah man, Stanley Wardle, is being charged with filing a total of nine false claims for tax refunds — one for himself and eight on behalf of other people. Through these false claims, Wardle sought a total of $875,218 in income tax refunds.
If he is convicted, Wardle could face as much as five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each count.
There is a special law that applies to individuals who know about tax fraud and report it. 26 USC § 7623 provides that a private whistleblower who reports tax fraud involving taxes, interest, and payments of more than $2 million is entitled to share in 15 to 30 percent of the IRS’s total recovery. When the tax fraud is being committed by an individual, the law also requires that the income of the person committing the fraud exceed $200,000.
