A Fresno area man was arrested today on 10 felony charges of filing false returns and grand theft, according to the Franchise Tax Board (FTB).
Robert K. Odom, 34, was booked on charges that he filed 44 false Renter Assistance Claim returns for the 2000 year. According to investigators, Odom used various names, drivers' licenses, fraudulent social security numbers, false addresses and nonexistent landlords in his refund fraud scheme. The claims totaled $24,600, but only $6,000 was paid from 10 false returns before the FTB detected the scheme.
The FTB administers the Homeowner and Renter Assistance program. It provides a once-a-year payment from the state to qualified homeowners and renters based on property taxes paid directly by homeowners and indirectly by renters. So far the FTB has processed 608,000 claims totaling $179 million in payments for the 2002 claim year.
Odom was booked into the Fresno County Jail. Bail is set at $60,000.