Dearborn man charged over bid for multi-million-dollar tax refund

A Dearborn man who was seeking a multi-million tax refund from the state got criminally charged instead and will stand trial, the Michigan Attorney General's Office said Thursday. 

Dashonta D. Warren, 41, filed for a 2018 tax year refund of $9.8 million from the Michigan Department of Treasury, authorities allege.

Warren is charged with one count of filing a false income tax return, a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Warren also faces four counts of filing false Uniform Commercial Code statements, five-year felonies that carry a $2,500 fine. 

The attorney general's office alleges Warren filed multiple fraudulent UCC financing statements with the Michigan Department of State identifying both the Michigan Department of Treasury and Parkside Livonia Credit Union as debtors.

“My office stands ready to defend Michigan taxpayers from bad actors who are trying to defraud the system and steal something that isn’t rightfully theirs,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. “Intentionally submitting tax return filings that are misleading or factually inaccurate is a felony offense, and it will not be tolerated in Michigan.” 

Warren was ordered to stand trial in Ingham County Circuit Court following a preliminary examination Sept. 11 before Judge Stacia Buchanan in 54A District Court in Ingham County.

Warren's next court dates have not yet been set.