NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Brooklyn man and his accomplice tried to defraud the IRS out of more than $9 million via an insurance reimbursement check scheme, prosecutors said Thursday.
Aleksander Zaretser, 41, has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the IRS, federal prosecutors in New Jersey said in a press release.
Between 2011 and August of 2018, Zaretser helped an accomplice smuggle millions of dollars in insurance reimbursement checks out of Prime Aid pharmacies in New Jersey and New York, prosecutors said.
Zaretser would cash the checks at businesses in Brooklyn using “fraudulent check-cashing accounts,” or cash them by sending them through Canadian bank accounts back into U.S. accounts, according to prosecutors.
He was allegedly caught on tape saying that Canada was less hard on “white collar crime.” He is also accused of saying that he and his accomplice “don’t steal from people, we steal from the f---in’ government.”
The IRS lost around $9.1 million in taxes through the scheme, prosecutors said.
Zaretser could face up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if he is convicted, according to prosecutors.
His attorney information wasn’t immediately available Friday.