Last Battle Creek Man Pleads Guilty In Large-Scale Tax Fraud Scheme

The last of a group of people accused of stealing tax information from veterans and filing fake returns has now entered a plea.

MLive reports that Diallo Dotson of Battle Creek pleaded guilty to conspiracy to file false and fraudulent federal income tax returns Friday, the last of a group of 33 Calhoun County residents to do so.

The 33 were indicted last February, after federal investigators uncovered a large-scale scheme in which information would be stolen from patients and employees of the Battle Creek Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and from Michigan Department of Corrections Inmates, in order to file the fake returns.

Around $22 million was received in refunds.

The alleged ringleader of the operation, Derrick Gibson, was sentenced earlier this month to 6-10 years in prison and $16 million in restitution.