Financial Crime Prosecution and Sentencing in US Virgin Islands: Patricia Henry Receives 10-Month Incarceration for Tax Fraud Scheme

St. Croix, USVI - A Significant Victory for the United States Government

Patricia Henry, 52, was sentenced to 10 months in prison by District Court Judge Wilma Lewis after being found guilty of conspiring to defraud the United States through a tax fraud scheme.

Background

The sentencing follows a five-day jury trial that concluded on November 17, 2020. According to evidence presented during the trial, Patricia Henry and her daughter Phiona Henry were involved in a scheme to illegally obtain money from the US treasury by filing false tax returns.

The mother-daughter duo deposited over $119,000 into their bank accounts using false returns filed under other individuals’ names.
The scheme involved stealing personal identifying information and using it to electronically file falsified tax returns for tax years 2009-2012.

Phiona Henry’s Sentencing

Phiona Henry was previously sentenced to 8 months of federal incarceration on February 26, 2021 after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The pair’s scheme involved stealing personal identifying information and using it to electronically file falsified tax returns for tax years 2009-2012.

Patricia Henry’s Sentence

In addition to her 10-month incarceration sentence, Patricia Henry was also ordered to:

Serve three years of supervised release
Pay a mandatory special assessment fee of $100
Restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amount of $18,986

Investigation and Prosecution

The prosecution of this massive stolen identity refund fraud scheme is the result of years of investigative work by the IRS-Criminal Investigations. The agency identified and dismantled the scheme, which was perpetrated in the Virgin Islands and elsewhere.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations.
It is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Melissa Ortiz.