Four Individuals from Oahu Sentenced in Tax Refund Fraud Scheme
(All connected to Keanu Sai sovereignty scams. Scroll down for background.)
News Release from U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Hawaii, Thursday, January 29, 2026
HONOLULU – United States Attorney Ken Sorenson announced that four individuals from Oahu were sentenced this week in federal court by Senior United States District Judge J. Michael Seabright for their roles in a tax refund fraud scheme following their convictions by a federal jury on August 27, 2025.
Rosemarie Lastimado-Dradi, 52, formerly of Kapolei, was sentenced to 108 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States, aiding in the preparation or filing of false tax returns, and money laundering. Marciaminajuanequita Dumlao, 61, of Honolulu, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States, money laundering, and making a false statement under oath in a bankruptcy proceeding. Finally, married couple Elvah Miranda, 64, and Daniel Miranda, 64, of Waipahu, were sentenced to 48 months and 30 months in prison, respectively. Elvah Miranda was convicted of conspiring to defraud the United States, filing a false tax return, and money laundering. Daniel Miranda was convicted of conspiring to defraud the United States and making a false statement under oath in a bankruptcy proceeding. All four defendants were also sentenced to 3 years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from at least January 2015 through September 2018, the defendants conspired to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). As part of their tax refund fraud scheme, the defendants filed fraudulent individual tax returns and other tax documents that reported false withholdings from mortgage lenders and then claimed substantial refunds from the IRS. After processing the false returns, the IRS issued refunds to Dumlao and the Mirandas totaling over $1 million. The defendants created trusts, opened new bank accounts in the names of business entities and the trusts, and transferred the criminal proceeds between the accounts to conceal the funds from the IRS. Lastimado-Dradi, Dumlao, and Elvah Miranda laundered the fraudulently obtained refunds through a series of bank transactions.
The defendants also engaged in conduct to obstruct IRS efforts to recover the fraudulently obtained refund money, including sending frivolous correspondence to the IRS, filing retaliatory liens against the IRS employee assigned to recover the fraudulently obtained funds, and filing for bankruptcy. Dumlao and Daniel Miranda each filed for bankruptcy and made false statements under oath in relation to their respective bankruptcy proceedings. Lastimado-Dradi successfully promoted the tax fraud scheme to at least five participants in the District of Hawaii, which caused a total tax loss of at least $2,122,837.24. In exchange for her assistance promoting the fraud scheme and obstructing IRS collection efforts, Lastimado-Dradi received a cut of the fraud proceeds totaling approximately $998,261.
In sentencing Lastimado-Dradi to a term of imprisonment of nine years, Judge Seabright called Lastimado-Dradi the “mastermind of the scheme in Hawaii” and said that “her fingerprints are just everywhere in this scheme.”
In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Seabright ordered Lastimado-Dradi to pay $1,724,503.94 in restitution to the United States, Dumlao to pay $325,981.86 in restitution, and both Elvah and Daniel Miranda to jointly and severally pay $567,789.55 in restitution.
“Today’s sentences send a strong warning to those who seek to evade our nation’s tax laws – there is nowhere for you to hide,” said United States Attorney Ken Sorenson. “The United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will relentlessly pursue and convict those who seek to steal from our country, and its honest tax paying citizens, through the operation of schemes to frustrate the lawful assessment and collection of taxes.”
“For years, Ms. Lastimado-Dradi directed her co-conspirators to conceal this theft from the public through trusts and business entities,” said Carrie Nordyke, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Seattle Field Office. “In the end, our agents followed the money, and this ruling has given that money back to taxpayers.”
IRS Criminal Investigation, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and FBI investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Paris Yates and Trial Attorney Sarah A. Kiewlicz of the Criminal Division Tax Section are prosecuting the case.
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Hawaii Woman Sentenced to 27 Months in Tax Refund Fraud Scheme
News Release from U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Hawaii, Thursday, January 29, 2026
HONOLULU – United States Attorney Ken Sorenson announced that Brigida Chock, 65, of Ewa Beach, a Filipino national and Hawaii resident, was sentenced today in federal court by Senior United States District Judge J. Michael Seabright to 27 months in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release for conspiring to defraud the IRS by fraudulently obtaining a tax refund and then thwarting efforts to recoup it. Chock was also ordered to pay $39,791.76 in restitution. Chock pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement on March 16, 2023.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Chock filed an amended 2014 tax return with a false Form 1099-MISC attached, claiming false income and withholding amounts. The fraudulent tax return caused the Treasury to issue a refund that Chock was not entitled to receive. In addition, Chock took repeated action to thwart the IRS from recovering the fraudulently obtained refund. For example, to conceal the funds from the IRS, Chock helped to create a nominee trust and opened bank accounts to facilitate the transfer of the fraudulently obtained criminal proceeds. She also mailed false and frivolous correspondence to the IRS to impede collection efforts. In total, Chock caused a tax loss of $232,221.53.
IRS Criminal Investigation, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and FBI investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Yates and Trial Attorney Sarah A. Kiewlicz of the Criminal Division Tax Section are prosecuting the case.
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Georgia Resident Sentenced to 20 Months for Role in Conspiracy to Obstruct IRS
News Release from U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Hawaii, Wednesday, February 18, 2026
HONOLULU – United States Attorney Ken Sorenson announced that Lazerrick Lawrence, 52, of Georgia, was sentenced on February 13, 2026 to 20 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release for conspiring with others to obstruct the IRS as part of a fraudulent tax refund scheme.
Lawrence pled guilty in August 2025 shortly before the trial of his codefendants.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Lawrence conspired with others to prevent the IRS from recouping money unlawfully obtained by his co-conspirators through a tax refund scheme. From approximately January 2015 through September 2018, Lawrence’s co-conspirators prepared and filed false federal tax returns with the IRS. Each of these returns included fraudulent tax forms purportedly issued by mortgage lenders, which established large tax refunds that the scheme participants were not entitled to receive. As a result of these false returns, the U.S. Treasury issued refund checks to the scheme participants totaling more than $1 million.
Lawrence helped to support the conspiracy. Among other acts, he filed retaliatory liens against the IRS employee assigned to recover the fraudulently obtained funds, created corporate entities designed to conceal the true ownership of real properties subject to federal tax liens, and helped his co-conspirators file sham bankruptcy proceedings.
Four of Lawrence’s codefendants were convicted at trial in August 2025 and sentenced in January 2026 for their roles in the tax refund fraud scheme: Rosemarie Lastimado-Dradi was sentenced to 108 months’ imprisonment; Marciaminajuanequita Dumlao was sentenced to 33 months’ imprisonment; Elvah Miranda was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment; and Daniel Miranda was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment. A fifth codefendant, Danitta Ross Morton, is currently awaiting trial scheduled for September 2026.
IRS Criminal Investigation, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and FBI investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Paris Yates and Trial Attorney Sarah A. Kiewlicz of the Criminal Division Tax Section prosecuted the case.
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SA: Georgia man, 52, receives 20 months for tax fraud | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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