Fraud

The tax season ended in April for most of us, but for some consumers their tax headaches are only about to begin. That's because their tax preparer — without their knowledge — changed their return to boost the refund by thousands of dollars and pocketed the extra money. Taxpayers often find out about the fraud only months later when the IRS comes knocking to demand repayment. Preparer return fraud has been around for years, but taxpayer advocates say the crime is growing.

Biodiesel producers told a congressional panel Wednesday that they're struggling to stay afloat in the aftermath of fraud cases uncovered in Baltimore and Texas, and a spokesman for petroleum refiners faulted the Environmental Protection Agency for slow response to a crisis he said has cost the industry $200 million so far. Members of the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee pressed Environmental Protection Agency officials to work...

A Glen Burnie woman who tried to obtain oxycodone with a stolen prescription has been charged with fraud. Christina Marie Rodgers, 30, of the 100 block Oak Springs Drive, faces numerous fraud offenses and theft under $100. Staff at the pharmacy in the 300 block Hospital Drive in Glen Burnie called police June 27, when the suspect presented a stolen prescription for 60 tablets of the narcotic. Police discovered several other stolen prescriptions in the suspect's possession as well as six tablets, thought to be fraudulently obtained oxycodone, police said.

So Brennan Center for Justice lawyer Mimi Marziani "knows for a fact that there is no evidence of a voter fraud problem" ("Maryland group alleges voter-roll problems," June 22). Really? Didn't the article say a few paragraphs before that there are voters on the books registered in more than one jurisdiction? Isn't that voter fraud? In this day when stolen IDs are a daily problem, how long before someone takes over the ID of one of those many dead voters still on the books, which has probably already happened?

A federal jury convicted a Perry Hall man Monday of wire fraud and money laundering for selling $9 million worth of bogus biodiesel credits to commodities brokers and oil companies - a case that has shaken the nation's renewable-fuel industry and prompted congressional inquiries about the adequacy of federal oversight. Rodney R. Hailey, 33, founder of Clean Green Fuel, could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison on each of eight counts of wire fraud, 10 years for each of 32 money-laundering counts and two years each for the two counts of violating the Clean Air Act. U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr., ordered Hailey taken into custody and set sentencing for Oct. 11. The jury took just 75 minutes to reach a verdict after a six-day trial that featured testimony about Hailey's splurging on luxury cars, real estate and diamond jewelry with proceeds from his sales of renewable fuel credits supposedly representing 23 million gallons of biodiesel.

The case that has rattled the nation's renewable fuels industry began with some flashy cars. As Rodney R. Hailey accumulated a string of vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce, two Bentleys and a Lamborghini, the Perry Hall man's neighbors became suspicious. They contacted Baltimore County police, who passed the tip to federal agents. Within months, federal and local authorities raided the offices of Clean Green Fuel, the biodiesel business Hailey ran in Perry Hall, and searched his homes both nearby and in Anaheim, Calif., seizing cars and records and freezing his bank accounts.

After about eight hours of deliberations Thursday, the Baltimore Circuit Court jury considering the fate of political consultant Julius Henson went home for a second day without reaching a verdict. Henson, 63, of East Baltimore, faces charges of election fraud, conspiracy and failure to include a campaign authority line on an automated call he orchestrated on Election Day 2010. Prosecutors say Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s campaign used the call in an attempt to suppress black votes.

Political consultant Julius Henson's attorney used a stack of fake oversized money, invoked slavery and called prosecutors' election fraud case against his client a "bunch of bull-honky" during his closing argument Wednesday afternoon. Using props, charts and a blend of humor and outrage, Edward Smith Jr. talked to the jury for an hour, shifting his style between folksy and erudite. He quoted lyrics from the song "Backstabbers" by the O'Jays, showed jurors a photo of what he called a "twisted" man meant to represent the prosecution, and recommended that the deputy state prosecutor "just walk out the door right now" rather than present his arguments.

A Severna Park woman was sentenced Tuesday to just over three years in prison after pleading guilty to a mortgage scam involving $4.7 million in fraudulent loans, the Maryland U.S. attorney's office said. Mary Anne Dean, 60, brokered loans in a scheme pitched to homeowners trying to avoid foreclosure, according to her plea agreement. The homeowners were told they could sell to investors, stay on as renters, and then buy back their homes after getting their finances in order. Dean, who ran a mortgage brokerage firm called Sunset Mortgage Co. from her home, submitted falsified mortgage applications to secure the loans for the "investors" — relatives and acquaintances of a co-defendant, Charles Donaldson of Bowie.

I have been watching the congressional hearings on the waste, fraud and abuses of public servants in the General Service Administration who spent more than $800,000 on a "conference" trip to Las Vegas. And according to the Inspector General's Office that was just the tip of the iceberg. The really frustrating aspect of this is twofold. First, this occurred in 2010 and was discovered soon after. The exact time is difficult to ascertain from the hearings since there is so much double-talk, but the Inspector General began an investigation.