LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ A Cuban citizen has admitted he collected $1.3 million from taxpayers in Arkansas, 16 other states and Washington, D.C., by posing as a U.S. government official with a group of Cubans.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports Angel Chapotin Carrillo pleaded guilty Wednesday after he and nine others were indicted in Little Rock on fraud charges involving more than 750 victims in 2015 and 2016.
Court documents show Carrillo was considered one of the “top runners” in the Arkansas-based scheme, in which people posing as IRS officials called taxpayers and told them they had outstanding tax debts.
The scammers would threaten to arrest or sue the individuals unless they immediately wired cash to an “IRS official” in another state.
A wire-fraud conspiracy charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
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