Hawaii couple convicted of tax refund fraud conspiracy

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Press Release

Hawaii Couple Convicted at Trial in Tax Refund Fraud Conspiracy

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Share For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Husband and Wife Participated in Nationwide Tax Fraud Scheme A federal jury in Honolulu convicted a Hawaii couple for their roles in a nationwide tax fraud scheme that involved deceiving the IRS into issuing a nearly $200,000 tax refund and then using shell bank accounts and frivolous legal filings to prevent the government from getting it back.

“The defendants made a deliberate choice to participate in a criminal conspiracy — they paid for false documents, fraudulently claimed an enormous tax refund and then spent years obstructing the IRS’s efforts to get it back,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Schemes like this are not victimless — every dollar fraudulently paid out by the IRS is a dollar stolen from the U.S. Treasury and from the hardworking Americans who fund it. The Criminal Division will deliver accountability for the American taxpayer by continuing to aggressively prosecute those who seek to defraud the IRS.”

“Co-conspirators moved the proceeds of this scheme through business entities, hid it in trusts and invested it across the country. But, every time money moves, there’s a receipt,” said Special Agent in Charge Carrie Nordyke of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Seattle Field Office. “Our agents work to expose tax fraud so that public funds can continue to benefit the public.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from approximately February 2015 through November 2018, Beverly Braumuller-Hawver and Scott Hawver, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, engaged in a fraudulent tax refund scheme by paying a promoter a series of fees in exchange for fraudulent tax paperwork. Armed with those materials, the Hawvers filed an amended 2014 tax return attaching a fabricated IRS Form 1099-MISC — a document that falsely claimed a mortgage company had paid Hawver $749,163 in income and withheld $424,163 of that amount in federal taxes. The fictitious withholding claim prompted the IRS to issue the Hawvers a tax refund for $192,845 — a refund that Braumuller-Hawver was not entitled to receive.

At trial, the jury heard evidence that the Hawvers moved quickly to put the money out of the government’s reach. They deposited the U.S. Treasury check into a newly opened bank account and then, within days, transferred $170,000 into a separate account held in the name of BeverlyB Music LLC, an unrelated music business the Hawvers operated. On that same day, the Hawvers paid co-conspirators more than $70,000 from the BeverlyB Music account for their roles in the scheme. Braumuller-Hawver later wired $22,000 from that account to a jeweler to purchase gold and silver coins. When the IRS began seeking to recover the fraudulent refund, the Hawvers did not simply ignore the notices — they sent scripted, frivolous correspondence to the IRS, filed a petition in U.S. Tax Court to thwart collection and participated as plaintiffs in multiple frivolous civil RICO lawsuits against IRS employees who were doing their jobs.

The jury convicted Braumuller-Hawver and Hawver of conspiring to defraud the IRS. The jury also convicted Braumuller-Hawver of filing a false tax return and money laundering. Both are scheduled to be sentenced on June 25 and face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy conviction. Braumuller-Hawver also faces maximum penalties of 10 years in prison for each count of money laundering and a maximum penalty of three years in prison for filing a false tax return. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Hawvers’ convictions are among the latest in a series of prosecutions arising from a nationwide tax fraud scheme that drew in more than 200 participants across at least 19 states. In 2022, the main promoters of the scheme were sentenced to 11 years in prison, more than 8 years in prison, and 51 months in prison. In Hawaii, the scheme was organized and led by Rosemarie Lastimado-Dradi, who marketed the operation as the “Escrow Trust Refund” program, recruited clients (including the Hawvers) and directed her cut of their fraudulent refunds — between 25 and 40 percent — into accounts held in the name of fictitious business entities and purported trusts. In January 2026, Lastimado-Dradi was sentenced to a total of nine years in prison. Other Hawaii participants in the scheme have also received significant sentences, including Elvah Miranda (48 months in prison), Marciaminajuanequita Dumlao (33 months in prison), Daniel Miranda (30 months in prison), Brigida Chock (27 months in prison) and Lazerrick Lawrence (20 months in prison).

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Sarah A. Kiewlicz and Megan L. Jones of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting the case.

Updated March 5, 2026 Topic Tax Component Criminal Division Press Release Number: 26-221

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