Jan 26, 2020

Calif. man cashed stolen tax refund checks in Kansas

Posted Jan 26, 2020 7:00 PM

KANSAS CITY (AP) —A man was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison with no parole for participating in a scheme to cash more than $447,000 in stolen tax refund checks.

Dante L. Chestnut, 31, of Ontario, California, pleaded guilty in July 2019 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Chestnut admitted that he and others stole tax refund checks from the mail in April 2016.

They then used driver's licenses and other identification documents to cash the checks at Academy Bank branches in Kansas, Missouri, Arizona, and Colorado, prosecutors said.