California state prisoner scams IRS out of $600K

A Marin County man doing time wasn't learning to be a better person.  Instead, he was scheming and stealing his fellow inmates' identities, using them to file fake federal tax returns.

52-year-old Howard Webber this racket from 2010-2012 during his time at San Quentin State Prison, Santa Clara County Jail, and Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility in Wisconsin.

Webber and his accomplice Clifford Bercovich raked in over $600,000!

They created a liability company called Inmate Assets Recovery and Liquidation Services, which they used to file fake federal income tax returns for over 700 inmates.

The returns contained fake numbers for wages, salaries, and tips.

Then the resulting money would be wired to a bank account the men controlled, or it would be sent to a P.O box they had set up.

On Tuesday Webber was convicted of mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

He'll be sentenced in May and is looking at anywhere from 2 years to 20 years in federal prison.

Bercovich pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft, mail fraud, and conspiracy and will be sentenced in April.

Read more at the LA Times.


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