Federal agents arrested an Atlanta-area man who tried to cash a $32 million tax refund check at a bank in Ohio.
Christopher Dowtin of Jonesboro, Georgia, fraudulently filed tax returns for 2 businesses that he did not own.
According to the charging documents, Dowtin filed eight Change of Address forms to convert both businesses’ IRS accounts to his name and address.
He then received two tax refund checks for both businesses from the IRS, including one check for more than $32 million and another in the amount of $26,156.50.
Dowtin, 48, flew from Georgia to Ohio and opened an account at a bank in the Southern District of Ohio.
On Feb. 13, Dowtin took both checks to a Morgan Stanley office in Beavercreek, Ohio, and attempted to deposit the funds into a brokerage account in a trust in his name.
Dowtin allegedly told the Morgan Stanley financial advisor that the two companies owed him money for illegally using his “personhood.”
He said the payments were transferred to him from the IRS.
The Morgan Stanley financial advisor verified that the two checks were valid U.S. Treasury checks. The checks were deposited into the brokerage account.
On Feb. 19, an executive director at Morgan Stanley contacted the U.S. Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation to verify Dowtin’s story.
Law enforcement seized both checks and charged Dowtin with wire fraud and theft of public money.
Genevieve Billia, a spokeswoman for IRS Criminal Investigation, said she could not explain why the IRS sent business refund checks to Dowtin for companies he did not own, or how he was able to change the addresses.
“That question about how it was changed, and why it was done, unfortunately is a question for the (IRS’) civil side,” she said. “On the enforcement side, we had the same question. How did that happen?”
Dowtin appeared in federal court in Atlanta. He is charged with wire fraud and theft of public money, punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.
