A Waipahu woman will spend two years in federal prison and pay more than
$1 million in restitution for filing false tax returns for an unlicensed construction business and applying for COVID-19 unemployment assistance she didn’t deserve.
From 2016 through 2020, Heidi Cafirma, 46, filed false joint personal tax returns for her and her husband with the Internal Revenue Service that “significantly” underreported their total business or other income and total taxes owed, according to federal court documents.
Cafirma “willfully cheated the IRS and state” out of
the taxes that she and her husband, Leonardo, owed, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. She was sentenced Sept. 30 by U.S. District Judge Shanlyn Park to 24 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for filing false tax returns and for wire fraud.
“Bringing to justice criminals like Cafirma — who
defraud the government, divert critical and limited resources to themselves out of greed, and steal from hardworking, taxpaying citizens — remains one of my office’s top priorities,” said U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson, in a statement.
Cafirma and her husband stole more than $880,000
in funds that were owed
to the IRS.
“That staggering amount does not account for taxes owed on any of the cash income that Cafirma accrued over the years, nor does it account for any associated state tax loss that she owes,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Perlmutter wrote in a sentencing memo.
Between 2016 and 2020, Cafirma spent over $84,000 on clothing and accessories, including payments to Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Coach.
She also liked cars, spending more than $78,000 on
car payments, including the purchase of two Mercedes vehicles and a new GMC truck, according to federal court records.
At least $33,000 of the money she stole she spent on jewelry, primarily at Golden Cut Jewelry in Waipahu.
She spent over $98,000
in payments to mortgage companies that the couple bought two homes with on Oahu.
In 2023, the Cafirmas sold the homes they bought with another couple for $1.375 million, hundreds of thousands more than what they purchased them for in 2018.
Cafirma is “financially sophisticated” and controlled her and her husband’s business and personal finances. She coordinated the construction projects while Leonardo did the actual
construction.
She told the tax return preparer that the income amounts represented all the income they had earned for each of the relevant tax years, 2016-2020, “even though she knew the income was false,” according to federal prosecutors.
Cafirma will owe more than $1 million in restitution.
“… But despite the significant income she’s accrued over the years — funneled through numerous bank accounts and her ownership of multiple properties — she now reports less than $190,000 in net worth with one bank account valued at $0, negative monthly cash flow, and has failed to provide any information on her husband’s financials or the additional documentation and clarification requested by U.S. Probation,” wrote Perlmutter. “At this juncture, well after the offenses charged in this case, she continues to be less than fully transparent about her financial circumstances.”
Cafirma also submitted a fraudulent application requesting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits “to which she was not entitled,” from about June 2020 through September 2021, falsely claiming she was out of work and had no income.
Cafirma got about “$70,500 in fraudulent benefit payments.”
On three separate occasions in August of 2018, Cafirma laundered money by depositing under $10,000 in cash into two separate bank accounts, in amounts that avoided currency transaction reporting requirements.
For example, Cafirma deposited over $1 million in income in 2020, with most of it deposited after March 2020. In 2020 she submitted 22 weekly certifications that she had “no income and no employment,” and received $70,500 of PUA funds.
“When investigators interviewed Cafirma in 2021, she eventually acknowledged that both she and her husband continued to work in 2020 and were busy, even after applying for and receiving PUA funds,” according to federal court records.
Cafirma was facing up to three years in federal prison for filing a false tax return and 20 years for wire fraud. She has been free on an unsecured $25,000 bond since her arrest by federal agents in 2023.
Her attorney, Howard T. Chang, wrote in a sentencing memo that Cafirma apologized for her crimes and expressed remorse. Chang said his client, a Latter-day Saints member and mother of three, was described by her husband Leonardo as a “blessing.”
“… Her devotion to her three children and extended family; always there providing love, support and strength. She is a ‘blessing’ to him and the family and who provides love, joy and peace,” wrote Chang. Cafirma disputes the amount she owes the government. The total will be determined at a later date.
