Former Windsor Resident Charged With Federal Tax Crimes

WINDSOR, CT — A former Windsor resident was arrested in Florida Wednesday on charges he filed a false tax return which netted him a bogus refund of more than a quarter million dollars.

Craig Francis, also known as Horus Durjaya Bey, 44, was charged by indictment with one count of filing a false tax return and one count of obstructing the administration of federal tax laws, according to Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut and Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England.

The indictment was returned by a grand jury in New Haven on Feb. 11, 2015. Francis, who is alleged to have absconded, was arrested June 7, 2017, in Kissimmee, Fla. The indictment was unsealed on that date, and after his arrest, he appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karla R. Spaulding in Orlando and was ordered detained pending his removal to Connecticut, Daly said.

According to the indictment, in Feb. 2009, Francis filed a federal income tax return falsely claiming that he was entitled to a $255,904 tax refund, and the Internal Revenue Service issued the refund before discovering the falsity of the tax return. The indictment also alleges that Francis promptly spent the fraudulently obtained funds and engaged in various acts to avoid paying the funds back, including filing a false amended tax return, and submitting a series of false bonds to the IRS, which had no value but purported to pay off his debt to the IRS, Daly said.

If convicted of the charges, Francis faces a maximum term of imprisonment of six years, Daly said.

Photo credit: Shutterstock