North Miami man convicted of cashing $11 million in tax-refund checks for dead people
His North Miami business cashed more than 2,000 tax refund checks issued in the names of people who were dead or disabled.
The refunds added up to more than $11 million, courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service.
Now, Junior Jean Baptiste faces up to 20 years in prison at his sentencing in October after being convicted Tuesday by a Miami federal jury of money laundering, theft of government funds, stealing identities and possessing false driver's licenses. His crime, though commonplace in Miami during the past decade, stands out for the sheer volume of stolen identities and fraudulent checks.
Baptiste, 36, who operated a check-cashing store called Surveillance Masters, regularly took a fee of half the value of the checks. They ranged from $1,000 to $9,000 each.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article99488367.html
