Grocery workers convicted in $2.6M stolen-identity scheme

PROVIDENCE – A federal jury on Tuesday convicted two employees of a Pawtucket grocery store for using the stolen identities of more than 400 individuals to collect more than $2.6 million in fraudulent federal tax return payments, according to U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha.
The jury convicted Doris Morel 44, of Central Falls, a full-time cashier at the Dominican Supermarket, on one count of conspiracy, one count of theft of government property, four counts of money laundering and four counts of aggravated identity theft. The jury also convicted Erika Tomasino, 44, of Central Falls, a secretary for the owner of the supermarket, on one count of conspiracy, one count of theft of government property, three counts of mail fraud, three counts of money laundering and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Morel and Tomasino were released on unsecured bond with electronic monitoring and are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith on Dec. 22.
Two others who participated in the conspiracy, Juan Vasquez, 53, of Pawtucket, the owner of the Dominican Supermarket, and his sister, Belkis Vasquez, 50, of Central Falls, previously pleaded guilty to federal charges and are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 4.
Juan Vasquez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. Belkis Vasquez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy.
According to the government’s evidence, for nearly four years, beginning in January 2010, the defendants participated in an extensive Stolen Identity Refund Fraud scheme. SIRF schemes involve the misuse of personal identifying information of individuals to file fraudulent tax returns. In this particular scheme, fraudulent tax returns were filed using stolen personal identifying information of more than 400 individuals, most of whom are residents of Puerto Rico.
Fraudulent treasury checks were mailed to various locations in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York, and later deposited by the co-conspirators into 27 different bank accounts. The bank accounts were controlled by the co-conspirators or other individuals affiliated with the Dominican Supermarket.

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