Federal grand jury indicts 6 accused orchestrating years-long tax fraud scheme

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A federal grand jury in Hawaii has indicted six people for conspiring to defraud the IRS.

Federal prosecutors said Marciaminajuanequita Dumlao, Elvah Miranda, Daniel Miranda, Rosemarie Lastimado-Dradi, Lazerrick Lawrence and Danitta Ross Morton took part in a tax fraud scheme. Dumlao and the Mirandas were arrested in Hawaii this week and made their initial appearances in court.

The U.S. Department of Justice said the group allegedly processed and filed fraudulent tax returns between January 2015 to September 2018. They are also accused of filing other tax documents that reported false withholdings from mortgage lenders.

Based on the false returns, the IRS allegedly issued refunds totaling more than $1 million.

In order to evade the IRS even further, the defendants allegedly created trusts, opened new bank accounts and moved money around to conceal funds.

If convicted, the six face between three to 10 years in prison.

The case remains under investigation by the IRS.

This story may be updated.

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