DOJ Sentencing Highlights Decade of IRS Fallout for Minnesota Identity Theft Victim
Tax Guardian - America's First Tax Identity Protection Suite
We monitor IRS transcripts for this exact pattern — wages reported under your number by employers you never worked for, in states you never lived in.”
KANSAS CITY, MO, TX, UNITED STATES, August 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- DOJ Sentencing Highlights 16 Years of IRS Fallout for Minnesota Identity Theft Victim— Travis Watkins, Tax Guardian
Victim Dan Kluver and attorney Travis Watkins are available to discuss employment-related identity theft and IRS wage record cleanup.
August 26, 2026 — A U.S. Department of Justice sentencing in the Western District of Missouri illustrates how long identity theft can distort an innocent person’s tax records and standing with the IRS.
Romeo Perez-Bravo, 44, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to seven years in federal prison — two years for aggravated identity theft and five for illegal reentry after a prior felony conviction — followed by three years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay restitution to Minnesota resident Dan Kluver, whose identity he used for sixteen years. The case is United States v. Perez-Bravo, No. 25-cr-00095, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
According to the Department of Justice:
Perez-Bravo admitted that beginning in Missouri in 2009, he used the victim’s name, social security number, and date of birth to fraudulently obtain work authorization. … At the sentencing hearing, the victim testified that he learned someone had stolen his identity when his wages began to be garnished for an unknown debt. … For over a decade, the victim received demand letters from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for unpaid tax debts accrued by Perez-Bravo working under his identity. The victim estimated he had paid nearly $15,000 to the IRS and continues to pay monthly installments on the tax debts.
In its announcement, the Justice Department described the case as “one of many federal fraud cases pursued under the leadership of President Donald Trump and through the establishment of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.”
The New York Times profiled both men in November 2025, reporting that Kluver’s paychecks were garnished and that wages earned under his Social Security number in states where he had never lived pushed him into a higher tax bracket.
“The IRS had evidence something was wrong with Dan Kluver’s record years before Dan did,” said Travis Watkins, an identity and consumer protection attorney retained by Tax Guardian to monitor and repair Kluver’s tax records. “Every fraudulent wage filed under his Social Security number landed in his IRS wage transcript, visible to anyone who looked. Nobody was looking.”
“That is the gap Tax Guardian exists to close,” Watkins said. “We monitor IRS transcripts for this exact pattern — wages reported under your number by employers you never worked for, in states you never lived in. It shows up years before a garnishment does. Sixteen years. Dan has paid nearly $15,000 on a debt that was never his, and he is still paying. The fraud was not hard to see. No one was checking.”
Available for Interview
Kluver and Watkins can speak with reporters about:
- What victims face with the IRS after a stolen SSN is used for employment
- How a polluted wage transcript produces notices, balances, refund delays, and multi-year cleanup
- The practical steps victims take to correct tax records and earnings history
This statement is general public commentary and is not legal advice.
About Travis Watkins
Travis Watkins is an identity and consumer protection attorney representing people dealing with the aftermath of identity misuse, including tax identity theft and IRS record cleanup.
About Tax Guardian
Tax Guardian is America’s first tax identity protection suite. Most identity protection monitors credit; Tax Guardian monitors the IRS records where tax fraud surfaces, with continuous transcript monitoring, proactive alerts, and expert recovery support for individuals, employers, and enterprise partners. SOC 2 Type II certified. taxguardian.com.
Media Contact
Angela Hill, Chief Revenue Officer
ahill@taxguardian.com | 619.750.3528
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri, sentencing announcement, August 26, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/guatemalan-illegal-alien-sentenced-84-months-aggravated-identity-theft-minnesota-man
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Angela Hill
Tax Guardian
+1 619-750-3528
mel@bizopia.com
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