Thirteenth Member Of “Manche Boy Mafia” Sentenced To More Than Five Years For Tax And Identity Theft Crimes

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell has sentenced Aaron Troupe (30, Tampa) to five years and one month in federal prison for theft of government property and aggravated identity theft stemming from the filing of fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities. The court also ordered Troupe to pay $449,529.97 in restitution to the IRS.

Troupe had pleaded guilty on April 17, 2019.

According to court documents, from 2012 through 2018, Troupe, who was a member of the “Manche Boy Mafia” or “MBM” gang, engaged in stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) and credit card fraud. In August 2016, a property cleaning service unearthed a laptop, notebooks containing personally identifiable information (PII), and firearms from the backyard of a rental property in Tampa that had been abandoned by the most recent tenants. The cleaning service turned the abandoned property over to the Tampa Police Department. Further investigation determined that one of the ledgers contained information, including fingerprints and addresses, linked to Troupe. Troupe also had debit cards issued in his name that had been loaded with fraudulently obtained federal income tax refunds.

The IRS determined that for the tax years 2011-2013, fraudulent tax returns associated with Troupe were filed claiming refunds totaling $1,295,583, which resulted in the IRS paying out refunds totaling approximately $449,529.97.

This case was investigated by the Tampa Police Department, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mandy Riedel.