Waipahu woman indicted for tax fraud, money laundering

A Waipahu woman was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for allegedly underreporting her family’s income and applying for fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment assistance.

From 2016 through 2020, Heidi Cafirma, of Waipahu, allegedly filed with the Internal Revenue Service false joint personal tax returns for her and her spouse that under-reported their total, business or other income and total taxes owed, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division.

Cafirma allegedly also submitted a fraudulent application requesting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits “to which she was not entitled.”

From about June 2020 through September 2021, Cafirma allegedly filed weekly unemployment benefit certification forms in support of her application.

On those forms, Cafirma allegedly falsely claimed she was out of work and had no income during the certification period. Cafirma allegedly received about “$70,500 in fraudulent benefit payments.”

On three separate occasions, Cafirma allegedly laundered money by depositing under $10,000 in cash into two separate bank accounts in August 2018.

Cafirma was allegedly trying to avoid currency transaction reporting requirements.

If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each false return count, 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, 10 years in prison for money laundering and five years in prison for illegal structuring, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case and Trial Attorney Sarah A. Kiewlicz of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig S. Nolan are prosecuting the case.