Inmates Bilk Millions From US Taxpayers

How does that make you feel on tax day?

Key West, Florida (CNN) – … Investigators say Monroe County jail inmates in Key West had been filing false tax return forms for jobs they never had as far back as 2004, and getting thousands of dollars a pop in refund checks.

Using a formula that kept their refunds to amounts under $5,000 per claim, inmates thought they would fly under the radar, investigators say. And they did for years, passing around cheat sheets that showed line by line how to fill out the complicated forms.

The scam however is not a local gig. Investigators and federal officials say it has been going on for decades in state and federal prisons around the country…