NJ Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty to Filing False Tax Returns

The owner of a business that provided notary and tax preparation services in Camden, N.J., has pleaded guilty to filing false personal tax returns.

Yanitza Sanchez, 35, the owner of Yanitza’s Multiservices, entered her plea in Camden federal court Wednesday before U. S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman.

For tax years 2008 through 2011, Sanchez allegedly included fraudulent items and tax credits, such as claiming fraudulent dependents, child tax credits, Earned Income Tax Credits claims, and education credits, to obtain larger refunds for clients. She charged clients an average of $500 to $700 for the use of fraudulent dependents and other fraudulent items and credits, according to prosecutors. For tax years 2008 through 2011, Sanchez admitted that she failed to report approximately $198,653 of income that she earned through Yanitza’s Multiservices.

In addition, Sanchez admitted that she included deductions and credits on her own personal tax returns that she was not entitled to claim to obtain a larger refund for herself. The unreported income and false deductions and credits resulted in an approximate tax loss to the government of $83,367.

The charge of filing a false tax return carries up to three years in prison and a fine equal to the greatest of $250,000; twice the gross amount of any pecuniary gain derived from the offense, or twice the gross amount of any pecuniary loss sustained by any victims of the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 4, 2015.

“Tax return preparers have a duty to their clients to prepare tax returns that comply with the law and are complete and accurate,” said Jonathan D. Larsen, special agent in-charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Newark Field Office, in a statement. “This same duty applies to preparers when they prepare their personal returns. Today’s guilty plea by Ms. Sanchez should serve as a reminder that IRS-Criminal Investigation takes these violations of law very seriously.”

The investigation was conducted by IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Newark Field Office, under Larsen’s direction, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, under the direction of U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman. The government was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason M. Richardson.

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