Hawaii man pleads guilty to falsely claiming $4M tax refund

A man who cashed an income tax refund check for nearly $4 million pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to making a false claim against the IRS and to filing fraudulent, retaliatory liens against two federal judges and two federal prosecutors after his indictment for the false tax return.

Feb. 12, 2013

A Hawaii man who cashed an income tax refund check for nearly $4 million pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to making a false claim against the IRS and to filing fraudulent, retaliatory liens against two federal judges and two federal prosecutors after his indictment for the false tax return.

Francis E. Chandler III faces a maximum five-year prison term plus a fine of up to twice the loss or gain from his action when he is sentenced in June. He has agreed to repay the government $3,066,629.

Chandler pleaded guilty to making a false claim for $3,969,012 in September 2008.

He received a check for that amount and cashed it. By the time authorities caught up with him, they were able to recover only about $900,000.

After he was indicted in April 2010, Chandler filed false liens against U.S. District Judge David Ezra, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin S.C. Chang, U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni and Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Osborne Jr.

The IRS has a head start in trying to recover at least some of the money Chandler has to repay. It filed a claim on a piece of real estate he bought in October 2007.

Chandler and two others bought a four-bedroom, three-bath house on two acres on Walea Street in Wahiawa for $1.65 million, according to city property tax records. The IRS claim was filed before they sold the property last month for $1.025 million.

HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union filed a foreclosure lawsuit in state court in April against the three. On Jan. 30, four days after the property sold, it agreed to dismiss the lawsuit.

Chandler had civil judgments against him in two other foreclosure cases last year, state court records show.

He is the manager of a small repair and cleaning services company, according to state business records, and also is a real estate agent.

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