Exec at Rangel’s Nonprofit Got $250K in Fake Tax Refunds

According to WebCPA.com:

A senior executive of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone who is also a tax preparer has pleaded guilty to submitting false and fraudulent tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service and cashing approximately $250,000 in fraudulently obtained tax refund checks.

Kelvin Crucey, 41, has been employed since 1996 by the empowerment zone, most recently as senior vice president of finance and administration.

Embattled Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) played a key role in the creation of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ). He exercises dominating influence over its board of directors and has secured millions in federal earmarks. Rangel directed millions in taxpayer money through UMEZ to another nonprofit known as Alianza Dominicana, which is Spanish for Dominican Alliance.

On August 9, NLPC filed a Complaint against Rangel with the House Ethics Committee, alleging a pattern of inside dealing, cronyism and corruption at Alianza. Click here to download a 10-page pdf of the Complaint.

Among other problems, Alianza Dominicana failed to pay its state and federal taxes and had run up huge debts with its landlord and other creditors. The group even stiffed its own employees on hundreds of thousands of dollars in pay.

WebCPA explained how the fraud worked:

Since approximately 1997, Crucey has also owned and operated a tax preparation business, Crucey and Associates.

Through his tax prep business, Crucey filed fraudulent tax returns using Social Security numbers and other identification information stolen from residents of Puerto Rico, according to prosecutors. The tax returns falsely claimed that the filers earned taxable income outside Puerto Rico but within the 50 states, and that they were entitled to a refund.

Given Rangel’s own failure to pay taxes on rental income from his beach house in the Dominican Republic, as exposed by NLPC, it will be interesting to see how hard he can feign indignation at Crucey’s rip off.

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