5 Richland County deputies fired for fraud arrests

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Richland County sheriff says he has fired five deputies because they filed tax returns with fake dependents to defraud the government.

Sheriff Leon Lott said at a news conference Thursday that the deputies have been charged with tax fraud.

Lott says the deputies filed the tax returns through 39-year-old Maribel Crespo, who Lott fired in 2010 for identification fraud. The sheriff says he was especially mad at his deputies because they should have known about Crespo’s record.

Lott says Crespo stole the identities of Hispanics, then had the deputies claim them as dependents. The sheriff says she pocketed some of the fraudulent returns before giving the rest to her clients.

Crespo was charged with 13 counts of tax fraud. It wasn’t known if she has a lawyer.