Alabama Woman Indicted for Stolen Identity Refund Fraud

A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Ala., returned an indictment charging LaQuanta Clayton with aggravated identity theft and theft of government money, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

According to the indictment, Clayton used stolen identity information to facilitate the theft of federal tax refunds. As alleged, Clayton used the stolen identity information to open bank accounts at the bank where she was working and then stole federal tax refunds that were deposited into the bank accounts.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Clayton faces a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison for each of the 15 theft of government money counts and a mandatory two-year sentence for the aggravated identity theft counts. She is also subject to fines and mandatory restitution if convicted.

This case was investigated by special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Charles M. Edgar Jr. and Michael Boteler of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.