Statewide grand jury indicts five members of a Greely and Loveland family

THEY WERE CHARGED TO UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FRAUD DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND TAX FRAUD.

Newsroom El Comercio de Colorado

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The statewide grand jury returned a 13-count indictment against five family members from northern Colorado on charges related to unemployment insurance fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic and tax fraud. From July 2020 through May 2021, Robert Tarin, Jr. of Berthoud is accused of fraudulently obtaining $31,577 in unemployment benefits by providing false information to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

According to the grand jury indictment, Tarin, Jr. falsely reported on his application for unemployment insurance that he temporarily shut down his towing business due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that he was furloughed from work. Tarin, Jr. failed to disclose on his application that he also owned a fencing business. Deposits into Tarin, Jr.’s bank accounts reflect that the towing and fencing businesses did not temporarily close or suffer a slowdown in 2020, nor did Tarin, Jr. furlough himself.

He also allegedly failed to disclose his unemployment benefits or other business income on his 2020 or 2021 state income tax returns. Tarin, Jr. regularly used addresses associated with his parents, Ramon Roberto Tarin-Deleon and Ana Maria Tarin, and a portion of his unemployment benefits were made via electronic deposit into his mother’s bank account, according to the court filing. State investigators uncovered evidence showing that his parents falsely reported business income for their Loveland restaurant, Taqueria Rancho Alegre #3, for tax year 2020.

Evidence also demonstrates that Tarin, Jr.’s aunt and uncle, Luz and Adrian Tarin, misrepresented gross sales on monthly sales tax returns for a restaurant they own in Greeley, Taqueria Rancho Alegre, and they failed to pay sales tax on undisclosed business income for tax years 2018 through 2020. These alleged misrepresentations by Luz and Adrian Tarin resulted in $48,692 in unpaid taxes, including penalties and interest.

“Unemployment insurance fraud remains a priority of our office. Those who have defrauded our system must be held accountable and our unemployment insurance task force is working to pursue cases and identify fraudsters. If anyone has information about such activity, we want to know about it so we can continue to take action in such cases,” stated Weiser.

Tarin, Jr. is charged with one count each of theft (F4) and cybercrime-theft (F4), and two counts each of attempt to influence a public official (F4), forgery (F5), and filing a false tax return (F5). Ramon and Ana Tarin are charged with one count of filing a false tax return (F5). Luz Tarin faces three counts of filing a false tax return (F5), and Adrian Tarin faces one count of filing a false tax return (F5). All defendants were taken into custody and released on cash surety bonds.

The cases are filed in Jefferson County District Court and the case numbers are 2023CR627 (Robert Tarin, Jr.), 2023CR628 (Ramon Tarin-Deleon), 2023CR629 (Ana Tarin), 2023CR630 (Adrian Tarin), and 2023CR631 (Luz Tarin).

Acusada familia de Greeley y Loveland por fraude al fisco

Grand jury accepted prosecution charges

Lt. Mark Hertz from the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force said: “This began as a Northern Colorado Drug Task Force case but quickly expanded to include the Department of Revenue and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, who brought additional areas of expertise to the investigation. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of many local and state partners, this criminal enterprise can be held accountable for the harm they’ve caused in our region.”

“The pandemic changed the way unemployment insurance fraud is managed across the country. Even as Colorado’s unemployment rate approaches pre-pandemic levels we continue to take fraud seriously and are committed to being good stewards of our public resources,” said Joe Barela, executive director of CDLE. “We are grateful to all of our law enforcement partners for the continuous work they are doing to hold these individuals accountable, so our department can continue focusing on identifying potentially bad actors and supporting Coloradans who are legitimately eligible for unemployment benefits.”

“The Department of Revenue is proud of the hard work of our investigators that assisted the Attorney General’s Office and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment in holding those who defrauded the state’s unemployment insurance and tax systems accountable. Our investigators were able to leverage their unique expertise in these complex cases to help protect the integrity of our tax and unemployment systems for all Coloradans,” said Brendon Reese, senior director of the state taxation division.

A grand jury indictment is a formal accusation that an individual committed a crime under Colorado laws. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.