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A Toronto gambler who U.S. authorities say is “addicted” to games of chance has been sentenced to 30 months in a federal prison for scamming the taxman.
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The U.S. Justice Dept. said William Henry Woo, 67, of Toronto submitted duplicate and inflated refund requests to the IRS Service Center in Austin, Texas as a Canadian citizen seeking automatically withheld gambling winnings.
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But in doing so, he defrauded the U.S. Dept. of Treasury of almost $1.8 million in tax refund cash from 2006 to 2010.
Woo pleaded guilty to two counts of the nine-count indictment brought against him in October 2022.
In addition to the jail time, Woo was also ordered to pay $1,771,011.67 in restitution for making false statements on income tax returns.
“Mr. Woo, who admitted his addiction to gambling, lost his biggest bet,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas.
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“He got caught on his gamble that he could cheat the U.S. government on his taxes. I appreciate the work of IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) to investigate Mr. Woo’s deceitful conduct, allowing our system to deliver justice.”
Authorities said they are constantly on the lookout for grifters like Woo.
“Fraud schemes against the IRS will not be tolerated, as stealing from the Nation’s treasury is stealing from every American, and…
