Tax Scheme Took Advantage of Mentally and Physically Impaired Las Vegas Seniors

According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, a Southern California man was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison Monday in a tax scheme that took advantage of 32 mentally or physically impaired seniors in the Las Vegas area. Damon Boswell, 38, who lived in Las Vegas when the scheme unfolded in 2009, also was ordered to share with another defendant in paying $192,632 in restitution to the IRS.

The scheme involved luring the victims – many of whom lived in assisted-living homes or with their grown children – into believing they would receive Obama administration economic stimulus money.

Under that guise, Boswell and his co-conspirators obtained personal identifying information from the victims and filed phony tax returns seeking tens of thousands of dollars in homebuyer credits in their names without their knowledge. In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey pointed out the seriousness of the crimes. This is a case that has some ugly facts,” she said. “It was a well-planned scheme.” But she said she decided on the lesser 15-month sentence because Boswell appeared “very remorseful” and on a “better track” in his life since 2009.

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