Four Oahu residents are headed to federal prison after what prosecutors describe as a years-long tax-refund scam that drained more than $2.1 million from the U.S. Treasury. Sentences handed down this week ranged from two years and six months to nine years, with judges ordering the group to pay back more than $2.5 million in restitution. The defendants are Rosemarie Lastimado-Dradi, Marciaminajuanequita Dumlao, and married couple Elvah and Daniel Miranda.
According to Hawaii News Now, the group filed fraudulent individual tax returns and bogus withholding documents tied to mortgage lenders from at least January 2015 through September 2018. Prosecutors say the refunds were then funneled through trusts and business accounts to hide the money’s true source.
How Prosecutors Say the Scheme Worked
Court filings show the conspirators were not just pushing their luck with aggressive tax positions. Prosecutors say they prepared false withholding information and submitted fabricated mortgage withholding forms to trigger refunds that the IRS initially paid out before agents began tracing the money, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
From there, the group allegedly tried to stay one step ahead of investigators by creating trusts, opening bank accounts in business and trust names, and shuffling funds between those accounts in an effort to frustrate recovery efforts, according to federal prosecutors.
Sentences, Restitution and Reaction
At the top of the heap was 52-year-old Rosemarie Lastimado-Dradi, who received a nine-year federal prison sentence and was ordered to pay more than $1.7 million in restitution. Judge and prosecutors alike pointed to her central role in the operation. During sentencing, the judge called Lastimado-Dradi the “mastermind of the scheme in Hawaii” and said “her fingerprints are just everywhere in this scheme,” according to Hawaii News Now.
Marciaminajuanequita Dumlao, 61, was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison and ordered to pay more than $325,000. Elvah Miranda received a four-year sentence, while Daniel Miranda was sentenced to two years and six months; together, the Mirandas were ordered to pay roughly $567,000 in restitution, according to Hawaii News Now.
U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson said the prison time and restitution orders “send a strong warning” to anyone looking to cash in on bogus tax-refund schemes. Carrie Nordyke of IRS Criminal Investigation praised the agents who unraveled the paper trail, highlighting the “follow the money” work that ultimately undercut the fraud.
Legal Notes
A federal jury convicted all four defendants of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Lastimado-Dradi, Dumlao and Elvah Miranda were also convicted of money laundering. In addition, Elvah Miranda was found guilty of filing a false tax return, while Dumlao and Daniel Miranda were convicted of making false statements under oath in bankruptcy proceedings, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Each count carries its own statutory maximum penalty, which the judge weighed alongside federal sentencing guidelines when imposing prison terms and restitution in the case.
Prosecutors say the convictions are part of a broader crackdown on refund schemes that rely on sham documents and nominee accounts to squeeze money out of the IRS. Earlier indictments and guilty pleas stretching back to 2021 involved overlapping methods and networks, according to Hawaii Free Press.
