It was almost the perfect crime, until he got caught and had all the money seized.
Don't try this at home, folks.
For most people it's never too early to start putting off your taxes. But we all might file a little earlier if we knew a $1 million refund was on its way.
One Florida man (surprise, surprise) may have found the secret to striking it rich on your tax returns though.
All he had to do was commit massive fraud.
For a brief time Ramon Christopher Blanchett of Tampa Bay was living the high-life.
Despite listing only $17,098 in wages Blanchett claimed he had $1 million in federal taxes withheld when he electronically submitted his tax return in February 2017 according to the Tampa Bay Times.
In actuality the 29-year-old who listed himself as a "free-lancer" made just under $3500 and had no taxes withheld, but that didn't stop the IRS from cutting him a check for $980,000.
When Blanchett received his fraudulent windfall the tax savant deposited the money into two SunTrust bank accounts. After they began to suspect fraud though SunTrust closed the accounts and sent him a cashiers check for the full amount last May.
The next stop for Blanchett was Grow Financial Credit Union where Blanchett claimed "the funds were from the estate of his deceased father."
That seemed to work.
After depositing the money Blanchett withdrew $49,117 on Aug. 9 to buy himself a 2016 silver Lexus RC350.
And he might have gotten away with it too if it weren't for those pesky IRS agents.
Shortly after his Lexus purchase the IRS figured out what happened and seized the car and the remaining $919,251.
Adding insult to injury the agency is also contesting an additional $809, the amount returned to Blanchett by his car insurance company after he cancelled the policy on his seized Lexus.
Blanchett's scam may not have worked for long but people reacting to the story were still taking notes, though there's no chance this would work a second time.
Though most seemed to have a better plan for how to hang on to the ill-gotten return.
But in the end it was just another exciting adventure in the life of "Florida Man."
It seems crime doesn't pay, not for long anyway.
So far though Blanchett has not been charged with a federal crime.
@GovPressOffice/X
