Florida woman faces potential 351 years in prison for tax fraud

A Fort Lauderdale, Florida, woman was convicted of heading an identity theft tax fraud scheme that netted $11 million in federal tax refunds and involved the filing of approximately 2,000 fraudulent tax returns, federal prosecutors said.

Alci Bonannee, 36, of Fort Lauderdale, faces a prison sentence of up to 351 years as the primary leader in the identity theft ring, prosecutors said.

Between December 2010 and June 2012, Bonannee was one of several people who submitted thousands of tax returns to the IRS using identities stolen from unsuspecting victims, authorities said. The Department of Treasury paid out millions into bank accounts controlled by Bonannee and accomplices.

Bonannee and the others then withdrew the funds in cash, prosecutors said.

Law enforcement officers searched Bonannee’s home and found a notebook and folder containing more than 1,000 names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers belonging to identity theft victims, court records related to the case show.

Bonannee was convicted Monday of one count of conspiracy to defraud the government, nine counts of filing false claims in violation, nine counts of aggravated identity theft and fourteen counts of wire fraud, according to federal prosecutors.

Bonannee is scheduled to be sentenced on April 26. Her accomplice, Chante Mozley, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to file fraudulent claims on Jan. 9 and faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years. Sentencing is scheduled for March 28.

Sonyini Clay, another accomplice, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to file fraudulent claims and aggravated identity theft on Jan. 14 and faces a prison sentence of up to 12 years. Sentencing for Clay is scheduled for April 26.

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