Tax Fraud Results In Prison Sentence for Windsor Man

HARTFORD, CT — A Windsor resident and former Hartford police officer was sentenced to federal prison Friday for filing a false tax return.

Craig Francis, also known as Horus Durjaya Bey, 45, of Windsor and Clermont, Fla., was sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford, according to John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in Feb. 2009, Francis E-filed a 2008 federal income tax return that listed falsely inflated amounts of both interest income received and taxable income withheld by the government, and requested a fraudulent refund of $255,904. Around March 1, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service issued the refund before determining that the tax return was fraudulent, and that Francis was actually entitled to a refund of only $4,073, Durham said.

Shortly after receiving the fraudulent refund, Francis spent or converted to cashier’s checks more than $220,000 of the money he received. Francis possessed $100,000 in cashier’s checks when the IRS officially notified him of the error on April 7, 2009. However, he cashed the checks and spent the money over the next three months, Durham said.

Francis currently owes the IRS $387,103.07, which includes interest and penalties, Durham said.

He was arrested June 7, 2017, in Florida. On Feb. 22, 2018, he pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax return.

Francis, who is released on a $250,000 bond, was ordered to report to prison Aug. 6, 2018.

Story courtesy of U.S. Attorney's Office

Photo credit: Shutterstock

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