BOSTON – A Brockton woman was sentenced in federal court in Boston for stealing a $931,000 United States Treasury tax refund check.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, 71-year-old Lana Ruel was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to two months in prison, to be followed by two months of supervised release. Ruel may also be ordered to pay restitution at a later date. In June 2026, Ruel pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government funds. In December 2025, Ruel was arrested and charged.
Ruel attempted to deposit a United States Treasury tax refund check issued to a healthcare company in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to the attempted deposit, Ruel incorporated a company in Massachusetts and opened a bank account in the same name of the healthcare company that was the payee on the tax refund check. After the attempted deposit, the bank froze Ruel’s account. Ruel then called the bank and said that she could “explain what the check was, where it came from, and what it’s for…”…