Delaware woman pleads guilty to fraud charges

NORFOLK, Va. – A Frankford, Delaware, woman pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to obtain payment for false claims and mail fraud. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

According to a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Linda Avila, 50, and unindicted co-conspirators devised a scheme to file false income tax returns using forms obtained from illegal aliens on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and elsewhere. Avila altered the W-2 forms by using white out to cover up the names, Social Security numbers and addresses on the forms. She then wrote in other names and addresses and filed the fraudulent returns. The addresses she entered on the forms were for post office boxes and residential addresses she could access. After she received the checks, she provided fake identification documents to the conspirators so they could cash the checks.

In August, special agents executed an arrest warrant and search warrant at her home in Delaware and seized approximately 17 boxes of fraudulent tax records. The agents also found templates for fraudulent W-2 forms and identification documents on her computer. The records included copies of approximately 1,754 tax returns filed between 2008 and 2014 for tax years 2004 through 2013.  The total loss to the IRS based on the fraudulent returns is approximately $7.2 million.

A federal grand jury indicted Avila July 25 on charges of conspiracy to make false claims, false claims against the United States and mail fraud. She is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 17 and faces up to 30 years in prison.