A federal grand jury in Atlanta says three men ran more than 16,000 Treasury tax refund checks, worth over $74 million, through a check-cashing business in north Georgia. The indictment, returned October 6, charges Gustavo Rojano Salazar, 41, Gabriel Rojano Salazar, 49, and Andres Huerta Rendon, 43, all of the Atlanta area, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. They were arrested and arraigned October 14 and are being held. The indictment contains only charges, and the three are presumed innocent.
The case turns on identity. Prosecutors say the men used Mexican identification documents in third parties’ names to get Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, or ITINs, which the IRS issues to people who cannot get a Social Security number. They then filed returns in those names. For anyone who files taxes, the practical question is whether someone else could file a return before they do…