Indica Greenidge, 27, of St. Croix, was sentenced Wednesday by District Court Chief Judge Wilma A. Lewis to 12 months’ imprisonment for her conviction of conspiracy to defraud the United States, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced.
Lewis also sentenced Greenidge to three years of supervised release, $75,171 in restitution, and a $100 special assessment.
According to the plea agreement filed with the court, from September 2011 to July 2012, Greenidge and others participated in a scheme to steal money from the United States Treasury by fraudulently obtaining federal income tax refunds. The scheme involved the acquisition of personal identifying information used to electronically file falsified tax returns for tax years 2010 and 2011.
According to Shappert, with Greenidge’s knowledge, her co-conspirators filed tax returns in individuals’ true names with actual Social Security numbers and dates of birth, but falsified the individuals’ income earned, tax withholding amounts, credits, and other information, and thereby claimed refunds to which they were not entitled.
The co-conspirators designated bank accounts for receipt of the refunds, which Greenidge and her co- conspirators then withdrew and spent for personal use. As a result of the scheme, $77,767 was designated to Greenidge’s bank account, of which $75,171 was actually deposited therein.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meredith J. Edwards and Alphonso Andrews, Jr.
