Man Pleads Guilty To Tax Return Fraud

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A South Florida man who bilked the U.S. Treasury out of nearly $1.5 million has accepted a plea deal from prosecutors.

Bobby Cooks, 40, has pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money. As part of his plea agreement, the defendant agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $1,428,027. At sentencing, Cooks faces a maximum statutory sentence of ten years in prison.

Between 2011 and 2014, Cooks received three tax refunds totaling $1,428,027 based on fraudulent tax returns filed with the IRS.

In 2011, Cooks received a tax refund in the amount of $528,071.33. The refund was based on a false 2010 tax return in which Cooks' claimed significant gambling winnings from, and tax withheld by, a casino. In fact, Cooks won no such money, no such tax was withheld, and form attached to the tax return showing the purported winnings was fake.

Two years later Cooks received a refund of $332,534 based on a fraudulent tax return filed in he filed using another person's name. The following year he received a refund of $567,422 based on a 2011 fraudulent tax return filed in the name of Cooks' father who had the same name as Cooks and who had been deceased since 2008. Cooks deposited the check in a bank account that he set up in his name.

Cooks will be sentenced on December 8th.