Alabama Man Indicted in a Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Conspiracy

A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Ala., returned an indictment charging Quentin Collick for conspiring to file false tax returns using stolen identities, theft of public funds, and aggravated identity theft, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

According to the indictment, between January 2011 and April 2012, Collick conspired with others to file false tax returns using stolen identities. He obtained stolen identities and obtained mailing addresses to which the fraud proceeds would be sent. Collick collected several federal tax refund checks sent to one of those addresses. He then caused those checks to be cashed.  

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Collick faces maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison for the conspiracy to file false claims, 10 years for each theft of government funds count, and a mandatory 2-year sentence for the aggravated identity theft counts. He is also subject to fines and mandatory restitution if convicted.      

The case was investigated by special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Jason H. Poole and Michael Boteler of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Brown are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax.