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U.S. Attorney’s Office January 18,
2013
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PHILADELPHIA—Brothers Jose Tirado,
38, and Victor Tirado, 36, both of Philadelphia, were charged by indictment,
unsealed today, in a tax fraud conspiracy, announced United States Attorney
Zane David Memeger. Jose Tirado, an officer in the 25th District of the
Philadelphia Police Department, was arrested this morning.
According to the indictment, between
January 2008 and March 2010, the two men obtained names, dates of birth, and
Social Security numbers of individuals, including children. In some cases, the
brothers allegedly recruited the individuals to provide the identifying
information. With that information, Jose Tirado allegedly prepared federal
individual income tax returns that falsely and fraudulently inflated earned
income amounts in order to obtain tax refunds that included Earned Income Tax
Credits. In some cases, he listed false dependents on the tax returns. He then
allegedly filed the false income tax returns with the IRS in electronic form
using the TurboTax® computer software program and directed the IRS to deposit
refunds generated from the false income tax returns to one of two Bank of
America Bank Accounts. Jose Tirado and other individuals, known and unknown to
the grand jury, received tax refunds issued by the IRS that were generated
because of the allegedly false tax returns that were submitted. In total,
$507,974 in false claims were submitted.
Each of the brothers is charged with
conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims; Jose Tirado is
additionally charged with 14 counts of false claims; Victor Tirado is charged
with three counts of false claims.
If convicted of all counts, Jose
Tirado faces a maximum statutory sentence of 80 years in prison, mandatory
restitution of $407,787.94, up to five years of supervised release, a fine of
up to $3.75 million, and a $1,500 special assessment; Victor Tirado faces a
maximum statutory sentence of 25 years in prison, mandatory restitution of
$407,787.94, up to five years of supervised release, a fine of up to $1,000
fine, and a $400 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the
Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and the Philadelphia Police Department of Internal Affairs. It
is being prosecuted by Ashley Lunkenheimer.