Grand jury indicts Berthoud man, family members

A statewide grand jury has issued a 13- count indictment against a Berthoud man and several of his family members, two of whom own a business in Loveland, on charges related to alleged unemployment insurance fraud during the pandemic as well as alleged tax fraud.

The case originally started as a Northern Colorado Drug Task Force investigation, according to the release, but the Colorado Department of Revenue, Colorado Attorney General’s Office and Colorado Department of Labor and Employment joined the effort.

Robert Tarin Jr. of Berthoud is accused of fraudulently obtaining $31,577 in unemployment benefits by providing false information to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment from July 2020 through May 2021, according to a release form the Attorney General’s Office.

According to the indictment, the release said, Tarin Jr. falsely reported on his unemployment insurance application that he temporarily shut down his towing business due to the pandemic and was furloughed from work; the release alleges that he failed to disclose on his application that he also owned a fencing business. Deposits into his bank accounts reflect that the towing and fencing businesses did not temporarily close or suffer a slowdown in 2020, nor did Tarin Jr. furlough himself, the indictment alleges.

He also allegedly failed to disclose his unemployment benefits or other business income on his 2020 or 2021 state income tax returns, the release said.

He also regularly used addresses associated with his parents, Ramon Roberto Tarin-deleon and Ana Maria Tarin, and a portion of his unemployment benefits were made through electronic deposit into his mom’s account, according to the release.

State investigators uncovered evidence showing that his parents falsely reported business income for their restaurant Taqueria Rancho Alegre #3 in Loveland for tax year 2020, according to the release.

According to the indictment, while Ramon Roberto Tarin-deleon and Ana Maria Tarin reported that the Loveland restaurant had a 2020 business income of $263,427, total gross sales for the restaurant were allegedly found to be approximately $500,402.80.

Evidence also uncovered that Tarin Jr.’s aunt and uncle, Luz and Adrian Tarin, allegedly misrepresented gross sales on monthly sales tax returns for a Taqueria Rancho Alegre location they own in Greeley and failed to pay sales tax on undisclosed business income for tax years 2018 through 2020; the release said the alleged misrepresentations resulted in $48,692 in unpaid taxes including penalties and interest.

“Unemployment insurance fraud remains a priority of our office,” Attorney General Phil Weiser said in the release. “Those who have defrauded our system must be held accountable and our unemployment insurance task force is working to pursue cases and identify fraudsters. If anyone has information about such activity, we want to know about it so we can continue to take action in such cases.”

The family members have since been charged with multiple felonies, including:

• Tarin Jr., charged with theft, a class 4 felony; cybercrime theft, a class 4 felony; two counts of attempt to influence a public official, a class 4 felony; two counts of forgery, a class 5 felony; and two counts of filing a false tax return, a class 5 felony.

• Ramon and Ana Tarin, both charged with filing a false tax return, a class 5 felony.

• Luz Tarin, charged with three counts of filing a false tax return, a class 5 felony.

• Adrian Tarin, charged with filing a false tax return, a class 5 felony.

The cases have been filed in the Jefferson County District Court.

“The pandemic changed the way unemployment insurance fraud is managed across the country,” said Joe Barela, executive director of CDLE, in the release. “Even as Colorado’s unemployment rate approaches pre- pandemic levels we continue to take fraud seriously and are committed to being good stewards of our public resources. We are grateful to all of our law enforcement partners for the continuous work they are doing to hold these individuals accountable.”

No drug charges were announced, and the release does not explain the drug task force’s involvement in the matter.