A federal grand jury returned an indictment on July 17 charging Lynette Hogue, a Memphis resident, with preparing false tax returns for others and willfully failing to file her own tax returns.
According to the indictment, between 2021 and 2024, Hogue prepared and filed false and fraudulent income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service for clients of the tax preparation business where she worked. The indictment alleges these returns contained fraudulent items that generated refunds clients were not entitled to receive. It also states that Hogue failed to file her own tax returns during those years despite earning substantial income from her work as a preparer.
Hogue faces 29 counts of willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false tax returns, as well as four counts of willfully failing to file a tax return. If convicted, she could face up to three years in prison for each count related to false return preparation and one year per count for failure to file. Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee announced the charges. Trial Attorneys Isaiah Boyd III and Matthew C. Hicks from the Criminal Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting.
“An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” officials said.
The Department of Justice created its National Fraud Enforcement Division on April 7, focusing on investigating fraud against Americans as part of President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance.
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee advances community safety through federal law enforcement efforts, handles prosecutions of federal crimes, defends civil matters involving the United States, operates offices in Memphis and Jackson serving its district, and is one among 93 such offices under the U.S. Department of Justice, according to the official website.