Woman gets 6 years for ID theft, tax fraud

An Allentown woman who admitted stealing between $550,000 and $1.5 million as part of an identity theft ring that filed fraudulent tax refund claims will serve more than six years in federal prison.

Marien Torres-Acevedo, 38, pleaded guilty in March 2019 to conspiring to defraud the government and aggravated identity theft. In addition to 75 months in prison, U.S. District Judge Robert D. Mariani ordered Torres-Acevedo to repay $857,730 in restitution to the government.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office in Scranton, Torres-Acevedo and her co-defendants used stolen identities to file false federal tax returns claiming significant refunds. The group cashed the fraudulent refund checks at several check-cashing stores, including two in Luzerne County, according to court documents.

During Torres-Acevedo’s sentencing hearing, Mariani highlighted the amount of money the government lost and the number of victims whose identities were stolen in the scheme. Torres-Acevedo was also held responsible for fabricating fake social media threats against her family and providing them to investigators, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Torres-Acevedo is a citizen of the Dominican Republic and faces deportation after her prison term as a result of her conviction, prosecutors said.

Three co-defendants — Alfred LiPuma, 81, of New York; Francisco Rodriguez-Polanco, 34, of New York; and Julio Polanco Suarez, 41, of Allentown — pleaded guilty to similar offenses. LiPuma was sentenced to three years of probation and paid $2.1 million in restitution and fines. Rodriguez-Polanco was sentenced to 4 years in prison and ordered to repay $857,730. Suarez is awaiting sentencing.

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