FRESNO, Calif. — Victor Cruz, 40, who was a tax return preparer in Bakersfield, pleaded guilty Tuesday to helping Miguel Martinez, a Mexican national who was in the United States illegally, submit fraudulent individual federal income tax returns that claimed $25 million in refunds.
According to court records, from November 2019 through June 2023, Martinez led a scheme to file thousands of fraudulent tax returns that claimed millions of dollars in refunds and Cruz helped him carry out the scheme.
Martinez used stolen identities to create fake businesses and report phony wage and withholding information for the businesses to the IRS. Martinez then submitted hundreds of individual income tax returns to the IRS in the names of individuals whose identities he had stolen, claiming that those individuals worked for the fake businesses and were owed tax refunds based on the phony wage and withholding information that had been reported. Cruz prepared and filed more than 500 of the fraudulent tax returns, which claimed more than $3 million in refunds. Cruz received thousands of dollars in fees from Martinez in exchange for his services.
The IRS actually paid out $2.3 million of the $25 million in refunds that was claimed by the fraudulent tax returns.
Cruz is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 17, 2025. He faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $250,000 fine.
Martinez pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years in federal prison.
