Man scams IRS out of $600K, faces prison

TAMPA — Cedric Clark, 35 of Tampa, pleaded guilty to a tax return scheme involving mail fraud, conspiracy and identity theft.

According to the plea agreement, Clark was part of a fraud scheme between October 2010 and June 2013 that obtained personal identification information from 1,158 people and then filed false and fraudulent tax returns in their names, according to a statement.

Clark controlled a post office box where many of the refund checks were mailed and numerous bank accounts where the IRS wired the tax refunds. The IRS paid more than $637,000 to accounts that he controlled, the statement adds.

Clark faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the mail fraud count, up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count and a mandatory consecutive term of two years on the aggravated identity theft charge.