Man sentenced for stealing Donald Bren’s $1.4-million tax refund

A man accused of posing as Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren so he could steal the real estate mogul’s tax refund was ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution.

A federal judge also sentenced Moundir Kamil, a 41-year-old convicted bank robber, to three years’ probation and 99 days in jail — time already served — according to court records from a March 23 hearing.

In 2010, Kamil used Bren’s Social Security number and other personal information to open a bank account in Cerritos in the billionaire’s name, prosecutors said at the time.

Kamil then used a fake driver’s license bearing his picture and Bren’s name to deposit a $1.4-million federal tax refund check made out to Bren, according to authorities.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Kamil withdrew or transferred the money to other accounts until about $265,000 was left.

Bren, an 82-year-old Newport Beach resident, is worth more than $15 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

Kamil, who pleaded guilty in 2011, was sentenced at a closed hearing. Sealed records were released Friday.

According to the records, Kamil isn’t financially capable of repaying the $1.1 million, so the judge ordered him to make monthly payments of 10% of his monthly income, or $200, whichever is more.

The sentence also requires Kamil to seek mental health treatment for a gambling addiction as part of his probation.

Authorities didn’t immediately know who had stolen Bren’s identity, but a jail guard in Santa Ana recognized Kamil when a photo of the suspect was released.

Before the theft from Bren, Kamil served 30 months in prison for a series of bank robberies in Orange County for which he was nicknamed the “give me more bandit.”