Alabama Medical Clerk and Another Indicted in Stolen Identity Tax Refund Fraud Schemes

Sasha Webb and Charlie Jackson have each been indicted for stolen identity refund fraud crimes, Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George L. Beck Jr. for the Middle District of Alabama announced today following the unsealing of their indictments after their arrests.  Webb was arrested on Dec. 20, 2013, and Jackson’s arrest took place on Jan. 15, 2014.

Webb was charged with conspiracy to file false claims, mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.  According to the indictment, Webb worked as a medical records clerk at an Alabama Department of Corrections facility in Elmore County, Ala.  Webb had access to the means of identification of inmates and sold the information to Jacqueline Slaton and Harvey James, who then used the inmates’ information to file hundreds of false tax returns that claimed over one million dollars in false refunds.  Slaton and James knowingly paid Webb for stolen identities. 

Charlie Jackson, a resident of Montgomery, Ala., was charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.  According to the indictment, between October 2010 and April 2013, Jackson obtained stolen identities and used those identities to file false tax returns.  Jackson directed the tax refunds to prepaid debit cards in the names of other individuals. 

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  If convicted, Jackson and Webb each face a statutory maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison for each wire and mail fraud count and a statutory mandatory two-year sentence for the aggravated identity theft counts.  Webb also faces a statutory maximum potential sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy count.   Both defendants are also subject to fines, forfeiture and mandatory restitution if convicted.

The cases were investigated by special agents of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspectors and the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office.  Trial Attorneys Jason Poole, Charles Edgar Jr. and Michael Boteler of the  Tax Division are prosecuting the cases with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Brown and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama.