A Texas family and their Mississippi associate have been sentenced to federal prison after a jury convicted them of orchestrating a multimillion-dollar tax refund fraud scheme that defrauded the IRS, the Justice Department announced.
Brandon Hunt, of Arlington, Texas, received a 90-month federal prison sentence on May 28, according to the Justice Department. Hunt was the fourth defendant sentenced in the case. His father, David Hunt, previously received 92 months; his half-brother, Corey Burt, formerly of Long Beach, Mississippi, received 94 months; and his twin brother, Baylon Hunt, received 38 months.
Prosecutors said the four men filed false tax returns in the names of trusts they controlled, seeking more than $8.5 million in refunds the trusts were not entitled to receive. Brandon Hunt also filed multiple fraudulent returns in his own name, court documents show. To further the scheme, the conspirators submitted falsified financial instruments and altered money orders to the IRS, and continued filing false returns even after receiving agency warning letters directing them to stop, according to evidence presented at trial.
The scheme ultimately generated more than $1.7 million in fraudulent proceeds from the IRS, which the men used to purchase luxury goods, furniture, cryptocurrency, a Cadillac Escalade and a house in Mississippi, prosecutors said.
All four defendants were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Brandon Hunt, David Hunt and Corey Burt were each convicted on multiple counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns; Baylon Hunt was acquitted on two such counts, according to the Justice Department. In addition to his prison term, Brandon Hunt was ordered to pay $1,774,864 in restitution.
Three of the defendants also failed to appear for the second day of trial. The U.S. Marshals Service assisted in apprehending Brandon, Baylon and David Hunt, the Justice Department said.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by trial attorneys Melissa Siskind and Daniel Lipkowitz of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark McDonald of the Northern District of Texas.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas announced the sentences. The National Fraud Enforcement Division, created April 7, focuses on investigating and prosecuting fraud against the American people. The department said its anti-fraud efforts support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government initiative chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance that seeks to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse within federal benefit programs.
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