HOUSTON — Two men were sentenced to years in prison for stealing a nearly $3 million IRS tax return from a Houston couple.
In January 2022, the victims were expecting their $2,932,446.84 IRS refund check to show up in the mail.
It never did.
It turns out that Benjamin Thomas and Kuljinder Singh Hunjan, both 38, stole it and deposited it into a fraudulent bank account that had been set up in the victims' names at Regions Bank. The feds said Hunjan and Whitley Rachelle Carter used fake IDs, dates of birth and Social Security numbers to open the accounts.
Authorities identified the men through surveillance video. Hunjan's fingerprints were also found on the check. The duo was also linked through text messages, other forms of communication and money transactions.
On April 13, 2022, Thomas was arrested while he was driving a stolen Lamborghini. When he was taken into custody, he had two debit cards for the accounts in which the stolen money was deposited. He also had an ATM receipt for an $800 withdrawal from the bank account.
Thomas, of Richmond, was sentenced to 90 months in prison. Hunjan, of New York, got 42 months. They previously had pleaded guilty. Both of them have to serve three years of supervised release after their sentences and they also have to pay about $4.4 million in restitution.
During sentencing, U.S. District Chief Judge Randy Crane called the scheme "complex and sophisticated."
Carter, 33, is set for sentencing in May. She's facing up to 30 years in federal prison as well as up to a $1 million fine.
