Florida Man Plays the IRS, Gains $980,000, Buys 2016 RC 350
Portraying himself as a ‘free-lancer,’ one Florida man’s ill-gotten gains briefly allows him to live the Lexus life.
Florida is a magical land of sunshine, motorsport, and the most bizzare stories around. For instance, there was the time a SWAT team decided to play video games over doing their jobs. Then, the time the police department of Key West was found to have a lot in common with the Mafia under RICO. And of course, the one time former governor Rick Scott released an attack ad against someone who heckled him in a coffee shop.
You can now add this to the list: the Tampa Bay Times reports a Tampa man managed to snag $980,000 from the IRS “on a reported income of $18,497.”
One Ramon Christopher Blanchett filed his taxes in February of 2017, listing his occupation as “free-lancer.” One W-2 Blanchett filed claimed $1 million in taxes were withheld, leaving Blanchett with only $17,098. The truth was he only made a total of $3,497, and nothing was withheld.
Based on the fraudulent return, Blanchett received a check from the U.S. Treasury for $980,000, which he then deposited into his local SunTrust. The bank suspected he was attempting to pull a fast one, and closed his account in May of 2018, while also giving him a cashier’s check for the deposited amount. Blanchett took the check to a local credit union, “falsely representing that the funds were from the estate of his deceased father” per the complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in district court.
In August of 2018, Blanchett took out a cashier’s check from the credit union for nearly $50,000, which he used to buy a 2016 RC 350. He also spent $809 on insurance for the Lexus, but it wasn’t long after that the IRS had seized his ill-gotten ride.
As it stands, Blanchett is a free man for now as far as federal crimes go, having only lost the RC 350 and all but $809 of the $980,000 he snagged from the IRS. No court hearing date has been set, either. But let this be a lesson to all: if you want a Lexus, don’t mess with the IRS.
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