A detention hearing is scheduled Friday in Orlando, Fla., for Phiona A. Henry, 32, one of two Virgin Islands women charged in January in an international stolen-identity tax refund conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced
Henry and Patricia Henry, 48, were named in the indictment by a Virgin Islands grand jury on Jan. 20, charging them with defrauding the United States, theft of government property and aggravated identity theft. The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not mention whether the two women are related.
Patricia Henry made her initial appearance before Magistrate Judge George W. Cannon in St. Croix on on Jan. 20. Phiona Henry appeared before Magistrate Judge Thomas Smith in Orlando on Wednesday.
According to Sharpe, the indictment is the result of years of investigative work by the Internal Revenue Service looking into a massive stolen identity refund fraud scheme perpetrated in the Virgin Islands and elsewhere.
According to the indictment, the scheme involved the filing of false income tax returns, the use of the identification of others and the designation of illegal refunds to the defendants’ bank accounts. The scheme resulted in the payment of illegal income tax refunds totaling more than $100,000, according to the indictment.
If convicted, the defendants face maximum sentences of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy and theft of government property offenses. Additionally they face a mandatory sentence of two years’ imprisonment if convicted of aggravated identity theft.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alphonso Andrews Jr.
