KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City, Mo., tax preparer pleaded guilty in federal court today to a wire fraud scheme in which she filed dozens of fraudulent tax returns that resulted in more than $238,000 in refunds being issued to individuals who were not entitled to receive them.
Onrea Knox-Lewis, 45, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to a federal information that charges her with one count of wire fraud.
Knox-Lewis was a self-employed tax return preparer. By pleading guilty today, she admitted that she filed income tax returns for the tax years 2012 through 2014 claiming false refunds. The fraudulent tax returns reported bogus wages, income tax withholdings and/or fraudulent dependents as well as the Earned Income Credit. In some instances, Knox-Lewis prepared and filed tax returns using stolen personal identification information.
After she filed the fraudulent tax returns over the internet, Knox-Lewis had the bogus refunds loaded onto prepaid debit cards; she utilized all, or in some cases only a portion, of the funds for her own personal expenses.
Through her scheme to defraud the IRS, Knox-Lewis prepared and filed numerous fraudulent income tax returns resulting in $238,666 in refunds being issued to individuals who were not entitled to receive them.
Under federal statutes, Knox-Lewis is subject to a sentence of up to 20 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 First 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
