By Jay Anderson on Feb 18th 2011 5:06PM
Filed under: News
While doing hard time is anything but a walk in the proverbial park, anyone who's watched HBO's 'Oz' knows a resourceful inmate can still enjoy many of the perks of pre-incarcerated life while behind bars. From recreational drugs, to chipped cell phones, to fried chicken, there are plenty of ways to partake in life's finer things as you count away the days.
But who knew inmates were receiving tax refund checks, and large ones at that, while still in the pen? Here's the story:
Prisoners in Florida, Georgia and California lead the nation's inmate population in scamming payments from an unlikely benefactor: the IRS. Prisoners in the three states received nearly $19 million in IRS refunds during 2009 after filing false or fraudulent tax returns, according to an IRS report to Congress that was included in a federal audit released in January.
The haul was part of $39.1 million in undeserved federal tax refunds the IRS issued to jail and prison inmates nationwide for phantom jobs on phony returns, the data shows. That's nearly triple the $13.4 million annual in tax refunds the IRS reported it issued to prison scammers just five years earlier.
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In The Words of Malcolm X
On Power
"The only real power that is respected in this society is political power and economic power. Nothing else. There's no such thing as a moral force that this government recognizes. You read more about moral corruption in Washington, D.C. than anything else. The corrupters in Washington are so powerful they can keep it from coming out in the open because they've got something on everybody." -- Second OAAU Rally July 5, 1964
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BlackVoices.com
In The Words of Malcolm X
On Power
"The only real power that is respected in this society is political power and economic power. Nothing else. There's no such thing as a moral force that this government recognizes. You read more about moral corruption in Washington, D.C. than anything else. The corrupters in Washington are so powerful they can keep it from coming out in the open because they've got something on everybody." -- Second OAAU Rally July 5, 1964
In The Words of Malcolm X
On Leadership
"I don't profess to be anybody's leader. I'm one of 22 million Afro-Americans, all of whom have suffered the same things. And I probably cry out a little louder against the suffering than most others and therefore, perhaps, I'm better known. I don't profess to have a political, economic, or social solution to a problem as complicated as the one which our people face in the States, but I am one of those who is willing to try any means necessary to bring an end to the injustices our people suffer." -- Paris meeting, November 23, 1964
In The Words of Malcolm X
On Differing Ideologies
"Our people have made the mistake of confusing the methods with the objectives. As long as we agree on objectives, we should never fall out with each other just because we believe in different methods, or tactics, or strategy. We have to keep in mind at all times that we are not fighting for separation. We are fighting for recognition as free humans in this society." -- The Black Revolution, Talk at Militant Labor Forum in New York City April 8, 1964
In The Words of Malcolm X
On Voting
"We will start not only a voter registration drive, but a voter education drive to let our people have an understanding of the science of politics so they will be able to see what part the politician plays in the scheme of things; ... and any time the politician is not doing his job, we remove him whether he's white, black, green, blue, yellow or whatever other color they might invent." -- OAAU Rally June 28, 1964
In The Words of Malcolm X
On Unemployment and Capitalism
"So it is not so much that automation is causing the unemployment situation... it's just the fact that America has run out of markets. And it's impossible for her to find new markets anywhere, unless there's some customers on the moon or on some other planet. And as long as this situation exists, America's economy is going to continue to go down, her dollar will continue to lose its value, and when her dollar loses its value she's lost all her friends. Because the only friends she has are those whom she has bought." -- Militant Labor Forum speech April 8, 1964
In The Words of Malcolm X
On Women
"One thing that I became aware of in my traveling through Africa and the Middle East, in every country you go to, usually the degree of progress can never be separated from the woman. If you"re in a country that"s progressive, the woman is progressive." -- Paris interview November 1964
In The Words of Malcolm X
On Human Rights
"We declare our right on this earth . . . to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in t his day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary."-- The OAAU Founding Rally, June 28, 1964
In The Words of Malcolm X
On Running for U.S. President
"Nowadays when a man is running for president of the United States, he's not running for the president of the United States alone, but he has to be acceptable to every area of the world where the influence of the United States reaches. Those who claim to be enemies of the system were on their hands and knees waiting for Johnson to get elected because he's supposed to be a man of peace; and he has troops invading the Congo right now and invading Saigon and places where other countries have pulled their troops out." -- Paris meeting, November 23, 1964
In The Words of Malcolm X
On Education
"Education is an important element in the struggle for human rights. It is the means to help our children and our people rediscover their identity and thereby increase their self-respect. Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs only to the people who prepare for it today." -- Organization of Afro-American Unity Founding Rally June 28, 1964
In The Words of Malcolm X
On Fate
"You must realize that what I am trying to do is very dangerous, because it is a direct threat to the entire international system of racist exploitation. It is a threat to discrimination in all its international forms. Therefore, if I die or am killed before making it back to the States, you can rest assured that what I've already set in motion will never be stopped." -- Letter from Cairo, August 29, 1964
In The Words of Malcolm X
The IRS said it could not immediately determine how much, if any, of the fraudulent refunds in 2009 has been recovered, because the recapture process "can take several years."
Although inmates' prison jobs don't pay enough to trigger tax withholding, some prisoners and their families may legally receive income from investments, inheritances or other sources that can qualify them for legitimate tax refunds. Washington enacted legislation in 2008 intended to crack down on fraudulent tax refunds claimed by inmates, but the intended enforcement has been bogged down by legal questions.
Evidence in federal court cases indicates they're typically run by inmates who gain access to the Social Security numbers and identifying information of others - sometimes including fellow prisoners - and then use the data to file false tax returns that generate thousands of dollars in refunds.
In some cases, the inmates search the Internet for listings of businesses that have filed for bankruptcy. Listing a defunct firm as employer on a false tax return can make it difficult for the IRS to verify the claim.
The scams often involve inmates' relatives or friends who are not behind bars. They receive and cash IRS refund checks, then deposit funds in prison accounts.
I could obviously throw in a corny "crime pays" pun here, but that would be waaaaay too easy.
I'm sure lots of anti-government and anti-tax types will see this as evidence that the IRS isn't doing its job. On the contrary, I think the fact that this level of fraud was identified is pretty impressive. This form of inmate fraud has been on the rise in recent years, leading to the Inmate Tax Fraud Prevention Act of 2008 which makes it easier for The Bureau of Prisons and the IRS to share data.
Hopefully this is just the first of many government efforts to curtail such illegal activity. Now if they could just revise their computer-based screening process that unfairly targets people of color to be audited, the IRS would be on a roll.
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Comments: (16)
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By: JD on 2/18/2011 5:32PM
"that unfairly targets people of color to be audited"
Excuse me but if you identify those inmates who are perpetrating these crimes, I'd bet that a majority of them are "people of color"! Let's stop trying to be politically correct here and call it what it is!
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By: Alexis Stodghill on 2/18/2011 6:07PM
IF YOU READ THE ARTICLE CORRECTLY -->
You would see that this refers to another article in which a study found that in fact the IRS DOES target people of color directly.
You also have no idea who the people are who committed these crimes.
All you have proven is that you are racist, mean and crazy by coming on this site and posting this.
Oh, and that you don't read carefully.
Great combination!
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By: AL on 2/19/2011 12:01AM
Oh I read it correctly Mr Alex!
This site notoriously posts how a certain populace of people's is always being unfairly targeted and placed in the prison system(s) to be exploited as a "slave labor" force.
Now what's we sposed to think?
That it's whitey perpetratin' the fraud!
The fraud that in the article the author calls "impressive!!??"
You cannot continue having thou cake and eat it too. Sometimes that double edged sword peeps be weilding gets caught in the throat. yimeen!
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By: Justifyed on 2/19/2011 10:31PM
How come the authors of other blogs can come on a blog and "respond" negatively to commentors, but can't keep the advertisers and other negative postings off of the blogs.
If you are indeed THE Alexis Stodghill, stay in your lane.
Now as for this article, I find it HILARIOS, that prisoners are scamming the very same IRS that has been scamming us for years. I guess now that the shoe is on the other foot, it doesn't feel so good.
Prisoners? Really? I know the IRS cringing over the fact that prisoners are getting over on them. Not defending the prisoners, because wrong is wrong BUT, this is a simple case of 'what goes around comes around'
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By: Alexis Stodghill on 2/20/2011 9:54AM
So you are saying you support someone coming onto the site, insulting me, insulting black people, and making a comment, that is very negative, and has nothing at all to do with the article?
You are telling me to stay in my lane, when you ALSO did not read the article and don't know what you are talking about.
In terms of deleting comments, etc., you and the first poster are the types of people I would like to delete more often -- people who say a lot of insulting things that make no sense about the bloggers, the content, and/or the black community, especially when it is clear that they did not read or comprehend the material before typing. This just brings down the whole level of discourse for everyone.
Comments like this:
"Now what's we sposed to think?
That it's whitey perpetratin' the fraud!"
Just show that this person is angry and has come on here to bait the black community because of his own issues. I cannot as an editor of this site let a site that is meant to be a safe place for blacks to communicate become an environment where people think it's okay to attack us.
So I WILL NOT "stay in my lane" when it comes to making Black Voices a great place for black people and the people who RESPECT US to seriosuly communicate about issues.
I am also not sure of what you mean by:
"How come the authors of other blogs can come on a blog and "respond" negatively to commentors, but can't keep the advertisers and other negative postings off of the blogs."
I am the editor, and I can remove any comment I want to. And I do if I think it's racist, totally disrepectful, or makes no sense and has nothing to do with the article. I remove lots of negative comments, but as people are commenting 24/7, I cannot remove them all. Also, I leave some up, because the responses to them won't make sense otherwise and I want to give people the opportunity to see that racism still exists and to give readers the chance to shout down some of the crazy people that come on here. If someone writes a thoughtful response to a racist or stupid comments, I will leave the bad comment up out of respect for the person who took the time to respond.
I don't control the ads, and I am not sure of what negative ads you are referring to. The ads on BV are totally the standard ads you'd see on most Web sites.
But seriously, don't come on here and insult me or my writers, or the black community.
If you have a problem, state your opinion respectfully and I will see what I can do. I want to help everyone where I can, but cannot tolerate blatant racism and complete disrespect.
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By: Justifyed on 2/20/2011 11:50PM
Alexis...stop padding the blog so your friend can get paid. Is this the new thing now..."let's respond to each others' blog so that we can all get paid?"
Then maybe you should help your fellow blog editors blogs that are not doing as well.
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By: Bubba on 2/18/2011 5:41PM
That's good, the real crooks, the government, is getting a taste of it's own medicine. It is probably only a smidgen of what the government steals from the hard working honest people of this country. So, guess what, I am not mad at all about this.
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By: Cheese Doodle on 2/19/2011 8:46AM
Very perceptive Bubba. Don't you realize that every dime that is pilfered from the government has to be replaced by the taxpayer? The miscreants that are fleecing hard-working Americans are ALREADY in the slammer for illegal activity and, from behind prison walls (at a cost of about 50 grand per year/per crook) they are adding substantial insult to considerable injury. You must be on the public dole, in the big house yourself or are just plain stupid.
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By: raven on 2/21/2011 6:24AM
These are the same guys Watkins and Sharpton are wanting to give a Starbucks and massage parlor too.
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By: jeromequigley on 2/21/2011 3:12PM
Nice digg Raven!!! I normally dont go in for petty jabs at peepz but some days I cant resist. And since you put it out there I might as well let you know you were not the only one thinking that!!
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