Stephen Reginald McDow Sentenced in Tax Refund Theft Caper


Remember Stephen Reginald McDow? Our very own Marisa Gerber wrote about him in July 2011, back when he got busted for running off with $110,000 that had mistakenly been deposited in his bank account. Turned out the cash belonged to a woman prosecutors identified as Michelle D. The whopping sum was in fact her tax refund and she'd made the mistake of providing the feds with an old bank account number which had seen been assigned to McDow. By the time she and the bank realized the error, McDow had spent most of the cash.

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See also:
Stephen Reginald McDow Charged With Stealing Money That Mistakenly Wound Up In His Bank Account

Rancho Santiago Community College Files Fraud Lawsuit Against Ex-Official Accused Of Stealing Low-Income Grants

Yesterday, the long arm of the law finally caught up with McDow when he
received a sentence of 60 days in jail and 18 months of formal
probation, along with an order to repay the money, although that, the DA
says, he's already done. According to a comment left on Gerber's story last July, his family loaned him the money to do that.

The DA's press release on the sentencing also points out that while
McDow never tried to hide his actions–he apparently emailed the victim
and her attorney to say that he'd already spent the money–he did commit
a crime by taking cash that didn't belong to him. After saying he'd already spent the funds, McDow stopped cooperating. “The defendant . . . [ignored] several attempts by the victim to get her money back,” the press release states. “After unsuccessfully attempting to contact the defendant, Michelle D. reported the theft to [Santa Ana police], who investigated this case.

Only one mystery remains: Who is Michelle D's tax accountant and can he or she please do my taxes? I can think of a few things I could do with a $110,000 tax refund.

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