KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a fraudulent tax return preparation scheme that claimed $433,365 in fraudulent income tax refunds.
Demichael A. Johnson, 37, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to two years in federal prison without parole. Today’s sentence will run consecutively to the seven-year sentence Johnson is currently serving in federal prison for drug trafficking. The court also ordered Johnson to pay $67,281 in restitution to the government.
On June 3, 2015, Johnson pleaded guilty to making a false claim. Co-defendant Mika Francis, 40, of Lee’s Summit, Mo., has pleaded guilty to the same offense and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 4, 2016.
Johnson and Francis, along with others, participated in a scheme using false IRS Form W-2s. They solicited friends and acquaintances to file their tax returns using false W-2 information. These “taxpayers" had little to no legitimate income and would not otherwise have to file tax returns. According to court documents, the scheme resulted in a total actual loss to the government of $329,000.
Johnson admitted that he caused a tax return to be filed in his name for tax year 2010 that claimed a refund of $13,184. Johnson claimed income that he did not actually receive and falsely claimed two dependents. The government has evidence of seven other instances of Johnson’s involvement in false claims, with a total criminal tax loss of $75,928.
Francis admitted that she caused a tax return to be filed in her name for the tax year 2010 that claimed a refund of $8,048. Francis falsely claimed income that she did not receive.
This case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Gregg Coonrod. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
