Florida postal carrier, Orville Hylton, arrested for selling IRS checks, judge sentences Rodney McCray
A Florida mail carrier has been arrested by federal authorities in connection to tax refund check fraud, just days after the IRS reported a massive spike in fraud last year.
Orville Dwight Hylton, age 40, was charged with theft of government property. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said he tried to sell the checks, made out to people in the zip code where he delivered mail, at a discount.
Federal authorities have arrested a Riverview mail carrier they say tried to sell $20,000 in fraudulently obtained tax refund checks.
In a related case on Tuesday, a federal judge announced a sentence for a Tampa man in another tax fraud case.
The judge sentenced Rodney Andre McCray, age 31, of Tampa to 18 months in federal prison for his participation in a scam that involved stealing refunds for deceased citizens totaling over $78,000. He was also ordered to pay back the IRS.
The postal reporter noted that the Hylton case was part of an ongoing joint investigative effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelley Howard-Allen.