caught and the jail started intercepting incoming checks, the inmates collected at least $100,000 from the irs. one inmate had checks sent to his brother s house. dozens of checks were going to one address. and that didn t raise any red flags with the irs. apparently not. by 2007, ellsworth turned over boxes of information to the irs. case closed, right? not so fast. they said, well, we re working on it. we re investigating it. we can t take your investigation and prosecute it from your investigation. we have to do our own investigation. reporter: nearly 3 1/2 years after it was busted, federal indictments were finally brought against a couple of the ring leaders and family members. why so long? the irs wouldn t say. now don t think this inmate get rich quick scheme started here at the monroe county detention center. oh, no. authorities tell us it s been going on for decades at state
against a couple of the ring leaders and family members. why so long? the irs wouldn t say. now don t think this inmate get-rich-quick scheme started here at the monroe county detention center. oh, no. authorities tell us it s been going on for decades at state and federal prisons all across the country. one of the inmates i interviewed said he had learned of it when he was in a federal prison. reporter: the irs told cnn it has programs to combat this but said, it is not a simple process particularly considering the fact that some inmates are entitled to tax refunds and that the prison population is not static. according to congressional testimony, in 2004, more than 4,000 bogus refunds were issued to prisoners for almost $15 million. but the irs blocked more than $53 million in false claims.
a w-2. phone calls were recorded. one of the main guys at one point is telling one of his cohorts that he s not going to do white collar street crime anymore because uncle sam is taking care of him. reporter: before they were caught, the inmates collected, else worth says, at least $100,000 from the irs. one had checks sent to his brother s house. dozens of checks were going to one address, and they didn t raise any red flags with the irs? apparently not. reporter: by 2007, boxes of evidence were turned over to the irs. case closed, right? not so fast. they said, we re working on it. we can t take your investigation and prosecute from your investigation. we have to do our own investigation. reporter: this year, 3 1/2 years after the scheme was busted, federal indictments were brought against a couple of ring
leaders and family members. why so long? the irs wouldn t say. now, don t think this inmate get-rich-quick scheme started here at the monroe county detention center. oh, no. authorities tell us it s been going on for decades at state and federal prisons all across the country. one inmate told me he learned of it in a federal prison. reporter: the irs told cnn it has programs to combat this but quote it is not a simple process particularly considering the fact that some inmates are entitled to tax refunds and that the prison population is not static. according to congressional testimony, in 2004, more than 4,000 bogus refunds were issued to prisoners for almost $15 million but the irs blocked nearly $53 million in fraudulent
money, just through this one piece, why wouldn t we have that? why wouldn t the government say look how smart we are? we bought this technology. $10 trillion. it s not a get rich quick scheme to pay the taxpayers back. no. no. no. this is crime incorporated. that s what the government is turning into. crime inc. so, when he is discredited, what do all discredited progressives do? they go to one of the big, you know, progressive groups. did he go to center for american progress? no. that was van jones and almost everybody else that has been discredited. no, no. no franklin went to a board of trustees for a group called the enterprise. enterprise community partners. alicia glen of goldman sachs is also there. huh! now here is their mission