A Maryland woman has pleaded guilty to formal allegations that she was involved in a local tax fraud scheme. The woman decided to plead guilty to the criminal charges after she was indicted in June with another defendant. That woman was an employee of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The defendant in this case could spend up to a decade in prison, and she could face hundreds of thousands of dollars in criminal fines.
Authorities say that the woman, who had been unemployed from February 2010 through April 2013, recruited unsuspecting victims to their scheme by promising them bountiful tax returns. Those recruits generally earned too little to be subject to large withholding taxes, so they would not generally be eligible for such tax refunds. The defendant in this case collected victims’ personal information and sent it to the other woman, who served as a financial management specialist for the FMCSA.
The government worker was accused of inventing income, education and other information about the recruits. She also falsely claimed a variety of tax credits, allowing her to collect additional money in the form of tax refunds. Then, the women kept the majority of the tax refund amount, giving only a small percentage to their program recruits. Several other unnamed individuals also reportedly profited from the scheme. A federal investigation showed that the defendant was involved in conspiring to file more than 80 fraudulent tax returns; in all, lost taxes from the scheme total nearly $1 million.
Criminal defendants who are facing allegations for this type of white collar crime have a variety of legal options. Criminal defense attorneys can guide their clients through legal proceedings related to their individual cases, providing them with information about the benefits of entering a guilty plea, for example.
Source: Land Line Mag, “Maryland woman pleads guilty in tax fraud scheme” Greg Grisolano, Dec. 20, 2013
