LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A federal jury convicted a Mexican national last week of operating a scheme in which he impersonated an IRS officer and told victims he could obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars for them from a fictitious IRS program.
Francisco Ivan Velazquez falsely claimed to be an IRS employee and told victims he could secure large monetary payments for them from the agency, according to court documents and evidence presented at trial.
Velazquez told victims the funds were available from a purported IRS program that allowed people who had previously lost a home to foreclosure to recoup money by applying to the IRS and filing certain documents. He advised victims that, in exchange for a fee, he would submit an application for them to recover the funds.
In some instances, Velazquez aided in the presentation of a false tax return with the IRS on behalf of victims that claimed the victim had federal tax withholdings of $100,000 or more and requested the withholdings be refunded.
The jury convicted Velazquez of three counts of wire fraud, one count of aiding the presentation of a false tax return, and two counts of impersonating an IRS officer. The jury did not return a verdict on four counts of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns.
Velazquez faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count, a maximum penalty of three years in prison for aiding in the presentation of a false tax return, and a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each count of impersonating an officer or employee of the United States.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 18, 2026.
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