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10 Are Held in Alleged Tax Refund Plot

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Times Staff Writer

Ten people suspected of being involved in an alleged scheme to steal and cash tax refund checks worth $18 million were arrested Wednesday on federal conspiracy charges, authorities said.

The 10 are among 20 people indicted Feb. 9 by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana.

Prosecutors said the group schemed to steal about 6,700 tax refund checks from a Los Angeles postal facility and launder the money, and said it was one of the largest tax refund check schemes investigated by the FBI. The Secret Service, U.S. Postal Service inspectors and Internal Revenue Service agents assisted in the investigation.

The scheme involved a postal service employee stealing the checks, with middlemen delivering them to others who cashed them using fake IDs at banking and other businesses in Southern California, officials said.

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The proceeds were laundered by more participants, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

Mrozek said he couldn’t recall another case involving such large amounts of money or level of sophistication.

“They had people at every step,” he said.

He said the suspected conspirators gave names to the various roles.

Those who cashed the checks were called “walkers,” Mrozek said. Those who worked at the banks or check-cashing businesses and helped cash the checks were “inside plugs.”

Talcum Marsh III, 46, of Los Angeles is suspected of orchestrating the scheme. Benjamin Marsh, 39, of Woodland Hills, his brother, allegedly helped oversee the scheme and launder the cash, Mrozek said. Both were arrested Wednesday.

Others arrested were Rashaad Green, 26, of Long Beach; Eric Muhammad, 26, of Venice; Timothy Jones, 36, of Corona; Marvin Miller, 32, of Orange; Eutonia Lewis 35, of Corona; Danielle Jones, 30, of Corona; Joel Boyd, 29, of San Clemente; and Robert Lobo, 36, of Costa Mesa.

The other 10 at large are expected to surrender within a week, authorities said.

They are postal worker George Hall, 47, of Rancho Cucamonga, who allegedly stole Treasury checks from a postal facility in Los Angeles; Corinthia Mims, 30, and sister Cynthia Mims, 30, both of Wildomar; Kyle Thompson, 34, of Santa Ana; Sheila Watson, 40, of Tustin; Tenisha Steen, 37, of Tustin; Demetria Turner, 36, of Los Angeles; Myra Rios, 34, of Santa Ana; Nelsy Rubio, 22, of Garden Grove; and Susan Kenemixay, 26, of Los Angeles.

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All the defendants are charged in two conspiracies: stealing the tax-refund checks and laundering proceeds from the alleged scheme, Mrozek said. Each charge carries maximum terms of 25 years in federal prison.

The Marsh brothers also are charged with five counts of money laundering and five counts of structuring cash transactions to avoid federal reporting requirements.

The additional charges could bring them 150 more years each in prison, Mrozek said.

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