Crime & Safety

Cops: 2 Arrested in Darien for a Tax Refund that Wasn't

A U.S. Treasury tax refund check they wanted to cash was itself real, but the tax return had been forged, according to police.

A man and woman from New Jersey were arrested after they tried to cash a U.S. Treasury check for a tax refund that had been part of a phony tax return, according to police.

Darien police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the matter:

Cesar Pensone-Perez, 28, of 622 Water St., Manhattan, and Socorro Deleon-Toribio 37, of 1425 Nelson Ave., the Bronx, had opened an account at TDBank at 55 Post Rd. on March 15, each using false names, with phony identification.

Deleon-Toribio's name actually belongs to a woman in Puerto Rico. A fake tax return in the Puerto Rican woman's name had been filed using an address in Trenton, NJ.

After the $8,879 tax refund was mailed to the Trenton address, the pair came to Darien to get it cashed.

They deposited $40 in the account, then Deleon-Toribio tried to deposit the refund check.

Bank personnel were suspicious (the reason for their suspicion was not clear in the Darien police account).

On March 17, Pensone-Perez and Deleon-Toribio were back at the bank to ask why the account had been frozen. TDBank officials had directed the bank manager to notify local police immediately, and Darien police came to the bank to find the pair sitting in an office.

On Pensone-Perez, police found what looked like an identity card from the Dominican Republic, but with a New Jersey operator's license on the back of the card -- for a person with a different name. He also had someone else's Social Security card on him.

The case was turned over to the Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force, a group of law enforcement officials including U.S. Treasury agents as well as state and local police.

Darien police were told that a widespread, ongoing scam exists in which the names and Social Security numbers of Puerto Rican residents were used to file fake tax returns to get refund checks sent to addresses different from the Puerto Ricans.

The resulting refund checks are sometimes sold on the street for a percentage of their face value. Pensone-Perez and Deleon-Toribio are thought to be part of a crew that tries to convert the checks to cash using phony names.

Pensone-Perez was charged with second-degree forgery, criminal impersonation, criminal attempt to commit third-degree larceny and second-degree conspiracy to commit ID theft. He was held on $100,000 bond and was due to appear March 27 in state Superior Court in Stamford.

Deleon-Toribio was arrested under the same charges, but her bond was initially set at $50,000, which may reflect a lower level of involvement in the conspiracy. 


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