The Ultimate Case of Refund Fraud

I’ve blogged about refund fraud before.  I’ve even blogged about inmates committing refund fraud from their prison cells, as odd as that may sound.  But the story of Jason Whitfield will Blow. Your. Mind.

Whitfield was charged with second degree murder back in November 2011.  He is accused of shooting and killing 26-year-old Michael Massaline on October 26, 2011.  Then, while in prison, Whitfield was caught putting together fraudulent refund returns in hopes of getting free money from the government.  Sometimes these refund fraud types use the identities of people they know, and sometimes inmates even sell their personal information knowing what it will be used for.  Not the case here.  At least one of Whitfield’s victims was definitely not a willing participant because it was the same guy he is accused of murdering!  Talk about adding insult to injury!  I guess once you’ve killed someone your tax problem seems inconsequential, and there isn’t much else you can feel guilty about . . . IF he’s guilty, of course.

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that this is another case out of the (now infamous) tax fraud capital of the nation, Tampa Bay, FL.  If it bothers you that inmates are surfing the internet and maintaining improper contacts with the outside world, you’re not the only one.  Prison guards and officials in Hillsborough County are in over their heads with this “epidemic.”  One deputy estimated that more than half of the inmates there are somehow involved in fraudulent refund schemes.

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