Case Is One of Many Tax Fraud Cases Pursued by United States Attorney Wigginton
Shanta C. Doss, 35, of Shiloh, Illinois, entered pleas of guilty to fifteen counts of Making False Claims Against the United States through the preparation and submission of fraudulent federal tax returns, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today. Doss faces a statutory maximum penalty of up to seventy-five years in prison, three years supervised release, a fine and mandatory restitution to the United States. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 29, 2015.
Facts revealed in Court showed that from 2011 through 2013, Doss prepared and electronically submitted returns to the Internal Revenue Service for friends and from other referrals. Many of these returns were false in that she electronically filed Schedule "C" forms that inflated or entirely fabricated business income. Doss knew she was required to disclose to the IRS that she was a paid preparer and to identify herself on the Form 1040. Instead, Doss concealed her identity by failing to disclose herself as a paid preparer on the Forms 1040. Doss concealed her identity to evade detection from the IRS because she was operating a tax refund fraud scheme.
The successful prosecution is the result of an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service/Criminal Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Norman R. Smith.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
