Elassia D. Munson, 43, of La Vergne, Tennessee, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to preparing false tax returns for her clients and filing her own false tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran of the Middle District of Tennessee.
According to court documents, from 2010 through 2015, Munson, a tax preparer, prepared and filed materially false tax returns for her clients by claiming false education credits, false charitable deductions, and bogus medical and dental expenses. Munson filed these tax returns with the IRS, generating large tax refunds. Munson diverted a substantial part of the refunds to her E-Trade financial account.
Additionally, Munson failed to report the diversions and her tax preparation fees on her own personal income tax return for years 2011 through 2014. As part of the plea agreement, Munson agreed to pay back approximately $97,000 to the IRS that is attributable to her tax fraud scheme.
Munson will be sentenced on Feb. 26, 2018, and faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison on each count, as well as a period of supervised release and other monetary penalties.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Ryan R. Raybould of the Middle District of Tennessee is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
