FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A man described by federal prosecutors as the ringleader of a $100 million tax refund fraud scheme is facing prison time.

A Fort Lauderdale federal judge was scheduled to resume a sentencing hearing Thursday for 27-year-old Harlan Decoste, who previously pleaded guilty to fraud, identity theft and other charges. Decoste faces a potential maximum of 29 years behind bars.

Decoste's attorney objects to the Internal Revenue Service's estimate of $108 million in potential tax refund losses as far too high. The IRS also says the scheme did obtain more than $28 million in actual fraudulent refunds. The loss amounts affect Decoste's eventual sentence.

Four other men have already been sent to prison. The operation run out of a suburban Miramar house was exposed after a May 2013 home invasion robbery.

(Story by: Curt Anderson, Legal Affairs Writer, The Associated Press)

 

 

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