PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Several people have been charged in Rhode Island in two separate tax refund schemes that federal prosecutors say could have netted them $1.6 million.
The office of U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha says four people have pleaded guilty and one has agreed to plead guilty in connection with a scheme to use stolen identity information from hundreds of people from Puerto Rico.
Prosecutors say they would file fake W-2 forms along with the stolen information, then receive checks ranging from approximately $3,000 to $10,000 to addresses in Providence. They received nearly $600,000 in the scheme.
Separately, prosecutors say two other people used stolen information from 1,300 people to receive tax refunds in a scheme designed to receive more than $1 million.
Both have pleaded not guilty.
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