4 Plead Guilty in Tax Fraud Case

Three San Fernando Valley residents and a Crenshaw man pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the largest case of electronic tax fraud prosecuted this tax season in California, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Lorence Hammond, 22, of Panorama City; Randy Slone, 32, of Van Nuys, and Khamil Burkley, 20, of Pacoima, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by assisting in the filing of false tax refund claims, Special Assistant U.S. Atty. Eric Lisann said. Dwayne Donaldson, 27, of Crenshaw pleaded guilty to assisting in the presentation of false refund claims to the IRS.

Authorities suspected the four of recruiting and helping as many as 200 people file electronically for false 1991 income tax refunds that cost the federal government an estimated $1 million, Lisann said.

Hammond and Slone used their names and Social Security numbers to create W-2 forms that contained false gross wages and tax withholding amounts, but they listed real employers and their IRS-assigned numbers, a federal indictment alleged. Burkley and Donaldson helped recruit people for the scheme.

Hammond is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 5, and Slone, Burkley and Donaldson are set to be sentenced the following day, Lisann said. Each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.