A Hawaii husband and wife were sentenced yesterday to 16 months and 24 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a nationwide tax fraud scheme that involved deceiving the IRS into issuing a nearly $200,000 tax refund and then using shell bank accounts and frivolous legal filings to prevent the government from getting it back.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from approximately February 2015 through November 2018, Beverly Braumuller-Hawver and Scott Hawver, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, engaged in a fraudulent tax refund scheme by paying a promoter a series of fees in exchange for fraudulent tax paperwork. Armed with those materials, the Hawvers filed an amended 2014 tax return attaching a fabricated IRS Form 1099-MISC – a document that falsely claimed a mortgage company had paid Hawver $749,163 in income and withheld $424,163 of that amount in federal taxes. The fictitious withholding claim prompted the IRS to issue the Hawvers a tax refund for $192,845 that they were not entitled to receive.
The Hawvers moved quickly to put the money out of the government’s reach. They deposited the U.S. Treasury check into a newly opened bank account. Within days, they transferred $170,000 into a separate account held in the name of BeverlyB Music LLC, an unrelated music business the Hawvers operated. On that same day, the Hawvers paid co-conspirators more than $70,000 from the BeverlyB Music account for their roles in the scheme. Braumuller-Hawver later wired $22,000 from that account to a jeweler to purchase gold and silver coins. When the IRS began seeking to recover the fraudulent refund, the Hawvers did not simply ignore the notices. Instead, they sent scripted, frivolous correspondence to the IRS, filed a petition in U.S. Tax Court to thwart collection and participated as plaintiffs in multiple frivolous civil RICO lawsuits against IRS employees who were doing their jobs.
In March 2026, a federal jury convicted Braumuller-Hawver and Hawver of conspiring to defraud the IRS. The jury also convicted Braumuller-Hawver of filing a false tax return and money laundering.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, Chief District Judge Derrick K. Watson ordered Beverly Braumuller-Hawver and Scott Hawver to jointly and severally pay $182,438.37 to the United States in restitution.
Along with the Hawvers, the Department of Justice has prosecuted a number of other defendants involved in a nationwide tax fraud scheme that drew in more than 200 participants across at least 19 states. In 2022, the main promoters of the scheme were sentenced to 11 years in prison, more than 8 years in prison, and 51 months in prison. In Hawaii, the scheme was organized and led by Rosemarie Lastimado-Dradi, who marketed the operation as the “Escrow Trust Refund” program, recruited clients (including the Hawvers) and directed her cut of their fraudulent refunds – between 25 and 40 percent – into accounts held in the name of fictitious business entities and purported trusts. In January 2026, Lastimado-Dradi was sentenced to a total of 9 years in prison. Other Hawaii participants in the scheme have also received significant sentences, including Elvah Miranda (48 months in prison), Marciaminajuanequita Dumlao (33 months in prison), Daniel Miranda (30 months in prison), Brigida Chock ( 27 months in prison) and Lazerrick Lawrence (20 months in prison).
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth M. Sorenson for the District of Hawaii made the announcement
IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Megan L. Jones and former trial attorney Sarah A. Kiewlicz of the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s Tax Section prosecuted the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse within Federal benefit programs.