Former Mississippi Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to Filing a Fraudulent Tax Refund Claim
Prepared Hundreds of False Tax Returns, Claiming over $3.5 Million in Bogus Refunds delete
A former resident of Durant, Mississippi pleaded guilty to preparing and filing a fraudulent claim for a tax refund with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), on August 10, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney D. Michael Hurst, Jr. of the Southern District of Mississippi.
According to court documents and information provided in court, from 2005 through 2015, Teresa C. Chism operated tax return preparation businesses in Mississippi named Mo’ Money, MoneyCo USA, and Lady T Taxes . Chism falsified her clients’ returns in different ways in order to increase their tax refunds, including reporting false wages, false self-employment income and expenses, and false education credits. In total, Chism prepared more than 550 false tax returns, seeking over $3.5 million in fraudulent tax refunds. The IRS paid at least $3.2 million in refunds on these bogus claims. Chism also did not file individual tax returns or pay taxes on her own income for 2013-2015, despite earning more than $100,000 during those years.
Sentencing is scheduled for November 8, 2018. Chism faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison, as well as, a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
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