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Study: More than half of pets overweight
DETROIT, April 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Internal Revenue Service in Detroit has noticed an increase in attempted income tax fraud using phony income reporting W-2 forms.
IRS spokesman Steve Moore told the Detroit News the scammers are recruiting mostly low-income individuals at homeless shelters and soup kitchens for names and Social Security numbers to file fake claims, often for the earned income tax credit of at least $4,500.
Moore said the arrangement is that the fraudster splits the proceeds with the person providing a name and Social Security number.
However, he said civil penalties and fines can backfire for a low-income person caught participating.
"They're going to owe us the entire amount of money, whether they split it with (the organizer of the fraud) or not."
Last week, a Detroit grand jury handed down a 10-count indictment against 29-year-old Mikcus Bishop of no fixed address, charging him with conspiracy to defraud the government and a variety of related tax charges. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison, the report said.
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