FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 30, 2001 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Becky Smalley 
Media Relations 
(302) 577-8667 work
(302) 366-0383 home
rsmalley@state.de.us

Todd Hallidy
Attorney General's Office
(302) 577-8314

TWO ARRESTED ON TAX CHARGES

Wilmington - William M. Remington, Director of Revenue, announced today that two individuals were arrested for attempting to defraud the State of Delaware of nearly $3,000 by electronically filing fraudulent Delaware tax returns.

Terrence L. Anderson of Newark, Del., was arrested today on two charges; theft and offering a false instrument for filing. Anderson filed a fraudulent Delaware personal income tax return for tax year 2000 using a false W-2 indicating he worked for an out-of-state business when he did not. Anderson filed for and received a refund in the amount of $1,839 based on withholding from wages that he never earned.

Pierre C. Johnson of Bear, Del. was arrested Wednesday on two charges; theft and offering a false instrument for filing. Johnson also filed a fraudulent Delaware personal income tax return for tax year 2000 using a false W-2 indicating he worked for a Delaware business when he had no such employment. Johnson filed for and received a refund in the amount of $1,053 for his nonexistent wage withholding.

This is not the first time individuals have been arrested for filing fraudulent Delaware returns, but Anderson and Johnson are the first to be arrested for filing fraudulent Delaware returns using a digital filing method. 

Remington said the investigation is continuing and it is anticipated that additional arrests will be forthcoming.

The number of taxpayers who file digital returns has grown steadily since Delaware began participating in  the joint federal/state e-file program in 1992. With the addition of Revenue's online filing program in 1999 and the barcoding program in 2000, the number of digital returns filed with the Division of Revenue has increased to 55%. Of the 204,000 Delaware returns filed so far this year, 60,500 or 30% were filed through the joint fed/state e-file program, 16,000 or 8% used the online filing program and 34,600 or 17% are barcoded returns. 

What does this mean for Delaware taxpayers? Remington says, "It means that by filing digitally, taxpayers enjoy the benefit of increased accuracy and processing that combine to ensure the fastest possible refund. Refund turn around time for most digital returns is a week or less, especially if a taxpayer uses direct deposit." 

"But," Remington warns, "Anyone who thinks that filing a fraudulent Delaware tax return, paper or digital, is a fast track to riches is sadly mistaken. While filing digitally can put you on the fast track for a refund to which you are entitled, it can also put you on the fast track to an arrest if you are not a legitimate filer." 

Delaware's Secretary of Finance, David W. Singleton, said "The Division of Revenue is super vigilant, and caught on very quickly to this high-tech scam. Those arrests serve as a warning to those tempted to test this. We will bring the full weight of the law to bear against such individuals." 

"It is not possible to maintain a level playing field for law-abiding taxpayers when others steal from the public. We will not tolerate such lawlessness," said Remington." 

The arrests resulted from an investigation conducted jointly between the State Attorney General's office and the Division of Revenue. 

-30-