The daughter of Broward County’s Clerk of the Court, and three of eight other co-defendants, have been granted bonds of $250,000 each to be released from the Broward County Jail to await trial in a federal tax fraud case.
Monika Shauntel Jenkins, 33, sat shackled in orange overalls before Federal Judge Jared M. Strauss in Fort Lauderdale Wednesday.
She is accused of participating in a criminal conspiracy that used stolen identities to churn hundreds of fake tax returns for millions in tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service.
Clerk of Court Brenda Forman attended the federal court hearing and co-signed the personal surety bond for her daughter’s release. Forman had no comment after the proceedings.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Among the release conditions, Jenkins must live at Forman’s home, wear a GPS monitor, and she cannot work or contact any identity theft victims or co-defendants. Jenkins must submit a DNA sample, surrender her passport and avoid airports, seaports, train stations and bus terminals. She must submit to random drug testing and possess no weapons.
Co-defendants Louis Noel Michel, Vladimyr Cherelus, and a third man received the same release conditions.
Also accused in the case, but not in court Wednesday, are Andi “Junior” Jacques, Dickenson Elan, Michael Jean Poix, and two other men whose names were redacted from court records.
Local
Jenkins was indicted on racketeering charges, conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, and wire fraud for her alleged role in the crimes that took place between 2015 and 2019.
The group allegedly bought information from the shadier reaches of the internet or “dark web” that allowed them to hack into more than a dozen tax preparation and certified public accountant databases to steal identities of clients in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, New Jersey, Arizona and Texas, court records showed.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton indicated in court that the scheme raked in more than $8 million.
Future federal court hearings will be held in Orlando.
