BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Brenda Jeffries-Silmon, 55, of Cheektowaga, N.Y., and Marcel Richardson-Redden, 58, of Buffalo, N.Y., pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by preparing false tax returns. the charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward H. White, who is handling the case, stated that Jeffries-Silmon and Richardson-Redden owned and operated a tax preparation business called R Services. Between January 2005 and January 2009, the defendants filed approximately 58 tax returns on behalf of clients that contained false information, such as improper filing statuses, false dependent exemptions, false claims to the Earned Income Credit, false charitable contributions, false business expenses, and false child care expenses. The false tax returns were filed with the Internal Revenue Service and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and resulted in a loss of tax revenue of $195,980.
The pleas are the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service, under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge, Toni M. Weirauch, and with the assistance of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, under the direction of Deputy Commissioner Risa Sugarman.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
