KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A woman pleaded guilty in federal court today to a scheme to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service resulting in $182,410 in fraudulent refunds being issued.
Tanisha Williams, 40, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Court Judge Greg Kays to filing a false claim with the IRS and wire fraud.
According to court documents, Williams participated in a scheme to defraud the IRS by helping in the filing of false income tax returns on behalf of others that claimed refunds to which they were not entitled. At times, Williams recruited individuals to file federal income tax returns under their own names and Social Security numbers. At other times, Williams used stolen identity information to file federal income tax returns. As part of the scheme, false Form W-2 information was used to inflate the income on the federal individual income returns filed for some of the taxpayers. These fraudulent refunds would then be deposited onto pre-paid debit cards. Once the funds were deposited to the debit cards, the money was withdrawn as cash or the cards were utilized for personal expenses.
Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Williams acknowledged that the scheme to defraud the IRS resulted in $182,410 in fraudulent refunds, an amount that Williams will be required to pay back as restitution.
Under federal statues, Williams is subject to a sentence of up to 25 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Ketchmark. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
