A Florida woman received a 12-year jail sentence for tax fraud Tuesday (July 30). Tania Henderson, 28, previously pleaded guilty to stealing over $1 million from the government via identify theft.
Officials were able to intercept approximately $1.5 million of what was taken. She jacked the identities of 400 victims, many of whom were deceased, and was sentenced alongside two cohorts, Betty Kirkendoll and Jason Bibbs
With the help of friends and family (to cash the checks), Henderson filed 236 fraudulent tax returns between August and November 2012. Authorities caught on to her scheme when an alleged accomplice, Patrina Taylor, tried to deposits a fake $7,500 IRS check.
Henderson is formerly of St. Louis, but her last known location was Wesley Chapel, Fla. “Stealing identities and filing false tax returns is a serious crime that hurts innocent taxpayers,” said Sybil Smith, special IRS agent in charge of criminal investigation. “Today’s sentence should serve as a strong warning to those who are considering similar conduct.”
In addition to the sentence she’s been ordered to pay the IRS $836,000. Her husband, Dwayne Denard Johnson, has been indicted on aggravated identity theft, and theft of government funds. He too is a Florida resident, and awaiting trial in Missouri.
Henderson isn’t the only Florida woman to go down for tax issues as of late. Rashia Wilson, of Tampa, was sentenced to 21 years for a $20 million tax scheme which she boasted about on Facebook:
“I’m Rashia, the queen of IRS tax fraud,’ the post stated. ‘I’m a millionaire for the record, so if U think indicting me will B easy it won’t, I promise you! U need more than black and white to hold me down N that’s to da rat who went N told, as if 1st lady don’t have da TPD under her spell. I run Tampa right now.’
Wilson, a mother of three, admitted to stealing $3 million. During her trial a psychologist argued that the Facebook post was a sign of bi-poliar disorder, an excuse that didn’t fly with the judge. “She knew what she was doing was wrong. She reveled in the fact that it was wrong,” Judge U.S. District Judge James. S. Moody Jr.
According to the Daily Mail, police “were alerted to the fraud in 2010 when they noticed a drop in drug dealing in the area.”
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Photo: WTSP
