Four years
for tax fraud

A Northeast Philadelphia man was sentenced last week to serve four years in federal prison for fraud and money laundering related to a scheme in which he underreported his income to collect public assistance while purchasing two houses.
Rifat Ismail, 44, of the 400 block of Woodhaven Place, has until April to report to prison at the order of U.S. District Judge Curtis Joyner. Joyner sentenced Ismail on March 13.
In November, a jury convicted the defendant of two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and one count of filing false tax reports.
According to an indictment in the case, Ismail collected $115,000 in federal food stamp and medical assistance benefits between 1992 and 2006 by lying about his income from his job as meat department manager at the CFM store, at 233 W. Lehigh Ave.
He received part of his compensation from the store in salary and another part in cash, but failed to report his cash pay to the IRS and welfare agencies, the indictment states.
Ismail also lied about his ownership of the Woodhaven Place home and another property at 702 Tyson Ave., which he bought in 2004 and 2006, respectively, by defrauding two mortgage companies, according to the indictment.
Lacking good credit because of his income under-reporting, Ismail used three acquaintances to file for mortgages in their names, although he was the true recipient of the loans, some of which he took in cash and deposited into overseas banks.
Joyner also ordered Ismail to pay $115,000 in restitution to the food stamp and medical assistance programs and to forfeit the two properties along with more than $80,000 in cash he received from the mortgage loans. ••