A North Carolina woman and a Maryland man were each sentenced today to 30 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States, aiding in the preparation of false tax returns and stealing government funds.

According to court documents, between 2013 and 2016, Sandra Denise Curl of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Percy Leroy Jacobs of Prince Frederick, Maryland, filed estate and trust tax returns (Forms 1041) on behalf of multiple fraudulent trusts they owned, seeking refunds to which they were not entitled. Curl and Jacobs also filed false personal returns, claiming fictitious tax withholdings in order to generate refunds. In total, the defendants attempted to defraud the IRS of more than $2.2 million.

In addition to the terms of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel ordered both defendants to serve three years of supervised release and to each pay $959,044 in restitution to the United States.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Jeffrey McLellan and George Meggali of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Morgan for the District of Maryland prosecuted the case.

Original source can be found here