A former employee with the Internal Revenue Service recently pleaded guilty to four counts of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return and four counts of filing a fraudulent tax return by an employee of the United States.
According to an announcement from the Justice Department, Jennifer Beth True worked at the IRS for over 22 years as a Lead Contact Representative where she assisted team members in responding to difficult and complex taxpayer inquiries. Throughout her employment, True was trained in tax law, ethics, information protection and disclosure, privacy, identity theft and identity protection.
She electronically filed over 500 tax returns for herself and other taxpayers between 2012 and 2018, in violation of IRS rules prohibiting employees from “Engaging in the preparation of tax returns for compensation, gift, or favor.”
True admitted that between approximately February 2012 and April 2018, she prepared or assisted in preparing and filing of at least 70 individual income tax returns for herself and other taxpayers that she knew contained materially false items such as false individual retirement account deductions, false medical expenses, false and inflated unreimbursed business expenses and/or false tax preparation fees. Some returns also included false child and dependent care credits. The falsifications allowed the returns she prepared to reduce the tax obligations for herself and the other individuals.
The charge of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 and restitution. The charge of filing a fraudulent tax return by an employee of the United States provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 and restitution. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for Jan. 6, 2021.
