HARTFORD, Ct. – A Haitian citizen who was living in New York was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison for his role in a scheme to cash $93,000 of tax refund checks on an account at Navy FCU.
According to documents filed with the court and statements made in court, Jean Aine, 43, stole U.S. Treasury checks, mostly tax refunds, out of the mail in New York, primarily in his Brooklyn neighborhood.
Aine told a friend who lived in Groton at the time that he had friends and relatives in New York with immigration problems and needed help cashing their refund checks. Aine's local connection recruited four other people and cashed more than 20 checks totaling more than $93,000 at the Navy FCU branch in Groton. Only Aine knew the checks were stolen, according to court documents.
