In the News

By Jeff Weinsier

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – An early Christmas present arrived for a Broward County man after his tax return check was stolen.

Uncle Sam told him he was out of luck, but now there’s been an unexpected change after he called Local 10 News.

“Honestly I thought I was out of luck, I almost gave up on the situation,” said Roberto Su. “I called and reached out to you because I was at the point that there was no help.”

On Friday, the Federal Government finally made him whole after Su’s $24,590 tax return check was stolen and cashed earlier this year.Su has spent months and months trying to cut the government red tape.

“The Department of Treasury threw me to the side, there was no help, no assistance,” he said. “I reached out to an attorney (and) they wanted $6-7 thousand dollars just to take the case.”

Local 10 News first reported on Su and his situation in August.

“I’m not asking for a handout, I’m just asking them to do what is right,” he said.

Su explained when his tax return didn’t arrive, he called the IRS to inquire.

He was told it was sent and cashed at a Lake Worth check cashing store.

A police investigation showed a man used a fake ID with Su’s information on it to cash the check.

Su spent months providing the Department of Treasury investigators with signature comparisons to the forged signature on the check.

The Department of Treasury told Su based on an opinion rendered by a document analyst, his claim was denied. That the signatures were similar.

He appealed, and that was also denied.

Local 10 News contacted Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s office because they have case managers that deal with these kind of things.

“We were able to get directly to the right people for him, and that the necessary pieces of evidence that were needed to prove the money was actually stolen, and to help him through the process of the bank’s appeal, and then going to the taxpayer advocate service to make sure once the money was returned to the IRS, that it was sent directly to him,” said Wasserman Schultz.

It took her office several months, but eventually, the money went where it belonged.

“All of a sudden they told me it was going to be a direct deposit,” Su said. “I opened it one day in my checking account and I almost cried.”

“I’m going to be able to invest in business I was trying to move forward. My girls are going to be able to get their Christmas they expected,” he added.

Local 10 News asked Wasserman Schultz if people should have to go through a TV station and a congresswoman to remedy a situation like this.

“Ideally no, but in defense of the IRS, they don’t have enough personnel to be dealing with and stay ahead of the massive fraud that is technically able to be committed,” she said.

A special shout out goes to Mike Liquerman in Wasserman Schultz’s office, as he was the person who got the job done for Su.

Wasserman Schultz said she is currently working to help several others in the same situation with the IRS.