John Russell Hanson v. United States

The appellant, John Russell Hanson, was indicted in twenty-two separate counts for violations of sections 287 and 495, Title 18 United States Code.

His violations of section 287 were charged to consist in his presenting to the Internal Revenue Service of the United States Treasury Department claims for refunds of income taxes upon Form 1040A, which stated that certain fictitious persons were wage earners, having earned stated amounts and having had specified sums of income taxes withheld. The indictment charged that defendant well knew the claims to be both fraudulent and fictitious, there being no such wage earners in existence, no such amounts earned, no such sums withheld and no such named dependents as were specified in the claims.

Appellant’s violation of section 495, as charged in the several counts of the indictment, consisted in his knowingly and wilfully forging on United States Treasury checks for specified amounts the endorsements and signatures of the payees (fictitious persons) for the purpose of receiving the specified sums from the United States and in uttering and publishing as true, with intent to defraud the United States, the foregoing Treasury checks bearing…