SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Seymour, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court Friday for a more than $850,000 fraud scheme in which she used the personal identity information of her fellow inmates in state prison to obtain student loans and tax refunds.
Renee Delann Clouse, 56, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Clouse to pay $857,618 in restitution and to forfeit to the government $857,618. Clouse was taken into custody at the end of the hearing to immediately begin serving her sentence.
On April 23, 2024, Clouse pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. Clouse admitted that she harvested the personal information of fellow inmates while she was incarcerated on a state drug conviction, then after being released from prison used that information to fraudulently obtain a total of $338,610 in student loan funds and tax refunds to which she was not entitled.
Clouse fraudulently obtained federal education loans of 18 other individuals totaling $285,435, in addition to more than $500,000 that was sent to the educational institutions, for a fraud scheme that totaled $804,434. Clouse also fraudulently obtained IRS refunds of 10 other individuals totaling $53,174.
According to court documents, Clouse continued her fraud scheme even after she knew she was being investigated by federal agents, and after agreeing to plead guilty.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, Kansas City, Mo.
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