Tampa man must forfeit Porsche in $342K theft case

TAMPA — U.S. District Judge Mary Sciven sentenced Weldon Malveau to three years in federal prison for theft of government property.

According to a press release, the court also ordered Malveau, a Tampa resident, to forfeit a 2010 Porsche Panamera that is traceable to proceeds of the offense.

As part of Malveau's sentence, the court entered a money judgment in the amount of $342,563, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct.

Malveau pleaded guilty on Feb. 7.

According to court documents, between January 2011 and March 2012, Malveau was involved in a scheme to file false and fraudulent income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service to generate large refunds deposited onto debit cards. When law enforcement officers arrested Malveau in March 2012, he had 26 debit cards in his possession in the names of different individuals and ledgers containing names and social security numbers.

The investigation revealed the IRS had received fraudulent tax returns and issued refunds in the names of many of those individuals, totaling $342,563, which was traced back to Malveau.