Cuban Man Set To Plead Guilty In IRS Tax Return Scam

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Cuban national is set to plead guilty to charges he conspired to file 900 phony federal tax returns seeking $2.2 million in refunds by using employee information stolen from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Yoandy Perez Llanes was extradited from Venezuela in August. Llanes was indicted in June 2015 with unnamed others on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy.

According to the indictment, Llanes and at least three others were part of a group who used the hospital employees' information to collect phony tax refunds as Amazon.com credits. The service offered by online filing service Turbo Tax is known as monetizing.

The credits were then used to buy smartphones, computers, video games and other easily re-sellable electronics.

Llanes will appear Monday before a federal judge in Pittsburgh.