A North Miami man tried a $1.5 million tax fraud. He got $454,000 — and prison time
A North Miami man collected other folks’ names, birthdates and Social Security numbers, then tried to collect $1.5 million of their tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Wesly Divers’ success could be classified as “limited” — $454,121 before law enforcement intervened. Now, instead of a North Miami house, the 29-year-old Divers will reside with Bureau of Prisons while serving a three-year, two-month sentence. His Sept. 8 sentencing on aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to defraud the United States and possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices also included restitution of the $454,121.
“Access devices” are the aforementioned chunks of identity information that ID thieves such as Divers use to file fraudulent income tax returns under citizens names without their knowledge. Divers’ admission of facts says from about July 5, 2012 through March 26, 2015, he got tax returns sent to bank accounts he controlled.
This continued even after investigators got to Divers home in the 1500 block of Northwest 131st Street and his hard drive.
“In the residence, law found several documents related to and evidencing the conspiracy, such as paper documenting the movement of fraudulently obtained tax refund money to bank accounts under the control of [Divers] and his co-conspirators,” the admission says.
A co-conspirator, 28-year-old Rony Dorismond, got two years, one month in prison and $58,232 in restitution. He and Divers each will have three years of supervised release after they do their hard time.
In his sentencing memorandum, Divers admitted to being addicted to Xanax and an alcoholic who drank heavily from age 18 until being remanded to federal custody earlier this year. But, he also pointed out he didn’t have any other criminal record, juvenile or adult, and claimed to be a present father for his 7-year-old daughter.
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