A Florida man has been handed a sentence of 100 months in federal prison for running a wire fraud scheme and evading taxes. Robert Rahrle, 35, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and has been ordered to pay a significant sum in both restitution and a money judgment, according to an announcement made by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York.
Details provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office reveal that Rahrle's scheme involved an online gift basket business, iCare Gifting Solutions LLC, which falsely claimed to offer care packages for the incarcerated. Charging around $50 per basket, the company billed hundreds of customers without providing the promised services. On top of the defrauding iCare’s customers, Rahrle failed to report substantial amounts of gross receipts to the IRS and inaccurately filed tax returns claiming business losses for the years 2017 and 2018.
In a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office, U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III said, "Driven by greed, Rahrle operated a years’ long fraud scheme scamming people out of millions of dollars. For that he will pay a high price a spend the next 8 years in federal prison. My office will vigorously pursue consumer scam artists like the defendant to protect the public and the public fisc." Additionally, the case brought to light Rahrle's tactic of capitalizing on the empathy of consumers, with IRS Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis commenting on the case's outcome.
The investigation leading to Rahrle's conviction was a collaborative effort by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and the Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S. Secret Service. The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Gadarian. Rahrle is now required to pay a $2,000,000 money judgment and $178,651 in restitution to the IRS, with additional restitution to the individual victims to be determined at a later date. Chavis emphasized the severity of Rahrle’s actions by stating, "While care packages were left unsent, he pocketed the money with little regard of the consequences," as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
