(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – An accountant from Chicago has been convicted of defrauding the state out of $250,000 in a fake tax-return scheme, and it’s not the first time the man has been caught, officials say.
A Cook County jury found 61-year-old Oscar Garrett guilty of theft of government property; identity theft; wire fraud; forgery and income tax fraud.
The Illinois Attorney General's Office says between 2011 and 2016, Garrett filed fake retirement income forms for more than a dozen clients -- misstating how much income they made from retirement accounts -- and collected tax refunds from the state for himself.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul calls it unacceptable that an accountant would abuse their position of trust and defraud the state. Thirty years ago, Garrett was accused in federal court of filing false returns with the IRS, officials said.
Raoul's office says Garrett has already served two and a half years in prison for a prior conviction.
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