A woman from Brockton has been arrested and charged in connection with the theft of a nearly $1 million United States Treasury tax refund check. Federal prosecutors allege that Lana Ruel, 70, attempted to deposit a large tax refund check that was issued to a healthcare company based in Brooklyn.
According to charging documents, Ruel allegedly incorporated a company in Massachusetts under the same name as the victimized healthcare business before opening a bank account in its name. She then tried to deposit the stolen check into this account. After the attempted deposit, the bank froze her account. Ruel reportedly contacted the bank and stated she could “explain what the check was, where it came from, and what it’s for…”
Authorities further allege that over two years, Ruel established four additional companies in Massachusetts that appear to have no legitimate business activity. For one of these entities, she is accused of opening accounts at about eight different banks. Some of these accounts reportedly received wire transfers, which were then moved to other accounts or withdrawn as cash. All associated accounts have since been closed by the banks.
The charge of theft of government funds carries a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine up to $250,000. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge following U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and applicable statutes.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley announced the arrest along with Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge at IRS Criminal Investigation’s Boston Field Office; and Nicholas Bucciarelli, Acting Inspector in Charge for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Saltzman from the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is handling prosecution.
“The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.”