Olney Man Gets 3 Years for False Tax Returns

A 51-year-old Olney man was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for filing fraudulent tax returns, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

In one return, Mehlek Dawveed received more than $970,000 for a fraudulent refund from one return, according to a statement from the department.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Dawveed to three years of supervised release after his release, the department said.

Dawveed pleaded guilty, according to court documents. According to his plea agreement, in March 2011, Dawveed filed a fraudulent 2010 income tax return that resulted in him receiving a refund in the amount of $977,558.

According to the statement of facts, Dawveed used the money to pay off the $83,837 balance on the mortgage for his Olney home in the 4800 block of Abbeyville Place, Olney. He also deposited a $250,000 check into his wife’s bank account, the statement says. Dawveed wrote several other checks into accounts controlled by him or close associates and wrote checks to various individuals and family members and for his own personal expenses.

Subsequently, on Feb. 18, 2012, Dawveed filed a fraudulent 2011 income tax return in which he requested a refund of $1,324,961, the department said. The refund was not issued.

On Feb. 27, 2012, Dawveed then filed an amendment to his 2010 taxes, in which he changed his taxable interest income from $1,486,902 to $0 and stated: “we now beckon you to accept our humblest apology for the ‘Unintentional Errors’ made during our 1040 filing for Tax Year 2010 for they were not done with ‘Malicious Intent.’”

The form falsely stated: “In ‘Good Faith’ we submitted a Payment of $5,000,000 Million Dollars to the IRS on January 31, 2012 in hopes of settling the remaining ‘Debt’ from our 1040 Tax Filing for Year 2010.”  No such $5 million payment was ever made.

According to trial documents, the court is seeking the forfeiture of his home, $788,991 in cash and the Abbeyville Road home.

His lawyer, Pat Woodward of Annapolis, said: “My client accepted responsibility for his actions and looks forward to returning to his family next year.”

Dawveed has been in pretrial detention for 14 months, and his release is expected next year, Woodward said.

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