Tag: IRS

BEVERLY HILLS—On Wednesday, March 18, the Beverly Hills Police Department informed Canyon News via email that they are alerting residents and business owners to a serious financial scam involving IRS tax payment checks that are stolen from the mail and fraudulently altered.

The BHPD has identified multiple incidents impacting Beverly Hills residents and businesses, consistent with similar cases reported throughout the United States, in which large IRS tax payments, often ranging from $100,000 to $500,000, were mailed through the United States Postal Service (USPS) but never reached the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In these instances, the IRS payment checks were intercepted from the mail, altered, and deposited into the suspect’s bank account.

Victims often do not discover the crime until several months later, when they receive notice from the IRS that their tax payment was never received. By that time, the altered check has already cleared, the funds have been withdrawn in cash, and the suspect account has been closed.

Due to delays in discovery, bank surveillance footage and other investigative leads are often no longer available, making the prosecution of these crimes unlikely. It is vital to understand that once these funds are withdrawn, the loss is usually permanent. If you fall victim to this scam, law enforcement and financial institutions are typically unable to recover the stolen funds.

The BHPD strongly encourages residents and businesses to submit IRS tax payments electronically whenever possible by visiting the official IRS website at irs.gov. Electronic payment is the most secure way to ensure tax payments are received by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

If a physical check must be mailed, residents should regularly review their bank statements and examine the deposited check image in their banking portal to confirm it was processed by the intended recipient, the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Reviewing the cleared check image in a timely manner may be the only opportunity to detect suspicious activity before funds are withdrawn.

The BHPD is asking residents and businesses to take immediate precautions and report any suspected mail theft or check fraud. Police reports can be filed with BHPD at the station or by calling the non-emergency line at 310-550-4951 to request an officer to respond to you.

For concerns related to mail theft within the postal system, reports may also be submitted to the USPS Office of Inspector General at hotlineform.uspsoig.gov.

 

By Danny Jones

BEL AIR—On July 14, the U.S. Department of Justice, Central District of California issued a press release announcing the arrest of two Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies and another man who is a cryptocurrency businessman.

According to the press release, both Sheriff’s deputies and the crypto currency expert, Adam Iza, aka “The Godfather,” stand accused of using their positions in law enforcement while working for private security off site.

On July 14, David Anthony Rodrigues, 43 of Laverne pleaded guilty of one count of conspiracy against rights.

Christopher Michael Cadman, 33 of Fullerton, is expected to plead guilty to two-counts of conspiracy against rights charge and providing a false tax return. Upon sentencing, Cadman is facing up to 13 years prison time.

Reports indicate that Cadman and Rodriguez were employed by the 24-year-old cryptocurrency expert, Adam Iza, who formerly lived in Newport Beach and Beverly Hills.

Iza has been in Federal custody since September 2024. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion. His sentencing date is scheduled for December 15.

The following information came directly from the DOJ press release:

“According to court documents, in August 2021, Cadman and a law enforcement officer identified as “LASD Deputy 6” intimidated and threatened a victim who was one of Iza’s adversaries. LASD Deputy 6 held the victim at gunpoint during a meeting at Iza’s office inside his Bel Air mansion. Immediately afterward, the victim transferred approximately $25,000 from his bank account to Iza’s bank account in response to the threat and demand.

In September 2021, Cadman and other law enforcement officers orchestrated a traffic stop in Paramount to arrest the same victim. Cadman admitted in his plea agreement to helping organize the traffic stop and arrest on Iza’s behalf and to receiving cash payments while he worked for Iza.

Cadman also received income he knowingly failed to report – at least $40,500 – on his 2021 federal tax return, which he signed and filed with the IRS in February 2022. Cadman admitted to owing approximately $11,000 in federal taxes for that year.”

In a separate plea agreement, Rodriguez admitted that in July 2022, he used his powers as an LASD deputy to “improperly obtain a court-authorized search warrant, lying to a judge relating to an alleged robbery investigation.”

This was done for Rodriguez to obtain a GPS location/information associated with a separate victim’s cell phone on behalf of an additional client who had also hired Rodriguez as a security guard.

Rodriguez obtained and shared the location coordinates with other co-conspirators of the victim including LASD Deputy, and former Federal Task Force Officer, Eric Chase Saavedra, 42, of Chino. Saavedra also ran a private security company.

According to the DOJ, LASD deputies and other co-conspirators would use information obtained from the court-authorized search warrant to harass, threaten, and intimidate the victim.

On February 6, Saavedra pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against rights, and one count of filing a false tax return.

Rodriguez faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson scheduled a sentencing hearing for Rodriguez on November 10.

The FBI and the IRS are jointly investigating this matter with assistance of LASD. The Assistant U.S. Attorney Maxwell K. Coll of the Cyber Intellectual Property Crimes Section is the prosecutor in these cases.

By Sharon