HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – An Ewa Beach couple is heading to federal prison in connection with a nationwide tax refund fraud scheme.
Beverly Braumuller-Hawver was sentenced to two years, while her husband, Scott Hawver, received 16 months. The couple must also pay $182,438.27 in restitution.
Prosecutors say the pair used fake tax documents to trick the IRS into issuing them a $192,845 refund they were not entitled to.
They then moved much of the money into another account and used some of it to buy gold and silver coins.
Evidence during the trial showed the couple paid someone to fabricate tax paperwork between February 2015 and November 2018.
The Justice Department says the Hawvers are among more than 200 defendants involved in the same scheme across 19 states.
Rosemarie Lastimado-Dradi was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2022 for her role in organizing the scheme for Hawaii…
This type of fraud targets the supply chain and accounts payable departments of businesses.
- Invoice Manipulation: Criminals intercept a legitimate invoice between a supplier and a client and change the banking details to their own. The client pays the bill thinking they are paying their trusted vendor.
- Kickbacks and Bribery: A vendor secretly pays an employee of the purchasing company to ensure their bid is successful or to overlook inflated pricing.