A California businesswoman has been caught red-handed in a brazen attempt to cheat the system, as Antonia Rios, 52, of Irvine, pleaded guilty to federal charges of attempting to interfere with the administration of the internal revenue laws.
Rios, a partner at Quick Rios & Associates, a tax preparation firm in Irvine, submitted altered documents to the Internal Revenue Service in an effort to support refunds claimed in the tax returns her firm had prepared for its clients.
At least 200 clients, including several Fortune 500 companies, sought more than $100 million in refunds based on the Telephone Excise Tax Refund, also known as the TETR, which was available to compensate individuals and businesses that paid excess telephone excise taxes from 2003 to 2006.
Rios’ fee arrangements with her clients stood to make her and her partner millions of dollars in fees if the IRS ultimately paid out the TETR-based tax refunds based on returns the firm prepared.
During an April 2011 meeting with IRS auditors, Rios presented a fake email she fabricated in an attempt to show ‘proof’ that Quick Rios was properly calculating the TETR credit.
Rios was not charged with filing false tax returns, although the IRS did negotiate settlements with many of the firm’s clients.
As a result of her guilty plea, Rios faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in federal prison when she is sentenced by United States District Judge Andrew J. Guilford on June 25, 2018.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation.
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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