NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – A Hampton man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for defrauding elderly victims and tax evasion.
According to court documents, between 2013 and 2019, Clarence M. Rice Jr., 56, falsely represented to people that he was going to receive a sizeable inheritance from his father’s death under the condition that Rice paid off all his existing debts.
Rice tricked people into giving him large amounts of money using the false representations that he needed the funds to obtain his inheritance.
During the fraud scheme, Rice stole over $350,000 from a 75-year-old retired bricklayer and more than $140,000 from an elderly blind man. In total Rice obtained at least $632,017.44 in the fraud scheme.
As part of the plea, Rice agreed that his victims were of limited financial means and suffered substantial hardship from his fraud.
Rice has not filed taxes since 2011, despite the income from his fraud scheme.
Between 2015 and 2019, Rice defrauded the IRS by living a cash lifestyle, negotiating checks from victims for U.S. currency instead of depositing them in bank accounts.
Rice hid assets on pre-paid cards and lied to law enforcement about his income and assets.
The approximate tax due and owing resulting from Rice’s failure to pay his personal income tax is $52,064.18.
Norfolk Police Department and Hampton Police Department provided significant assistance in this case.
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