Barbara Antonucci Gets 3.5 Years for $1.8M Tax Scam

El Dorado Hills tax scam artist Barbara Antonucci was hit with a 3.5-year federal prison sentence Thursday for masterminding a sprawling tax refund fraud that bled the IRS of more than $1.8 million. U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. handed down the sentence and ordered Antonucci, an unlicensed tax preparer, to pay $1,895,833 in restitution for her role in filing hundreds of fraudulent returns, the Department of Justice confirmed.

From 2008 to 2014, Antonucci ran a criminal tax mill out of Northern California, fabricating wages, inventing dependents, and exploiting the Earned Income Credit to inflate refunds for clients who didn’t qualify. Beginning in May 2010, she teamed up with co-conspirator Sherry Taggart, 56, also of El Dorado Hills, to turbocharge the scam. Between June 2012 and March 2014, the duo filed phony claims totaling approximately $1.4 million, successfully collecting over $757,000 in illegitimate refunds. In total, the IRS paid out more than $1.8 million from over $2.5 million in bogus filings during the full run of the scheme.

The fraud hinged on fake personal data. Antonucci and Taggart stole the names and Social Security numbers of minors—many of them unrelated to the clients—and listed them as dependents. They invented self-employment income for jobs like ‘housekeeper’ with no W-2 documentation. The returns falsely qualified clients for the refundable EIC, a benefit meant for low-income workers. Both women even filed false claims for themselves, using mail and internet filings routed through Sacramento, Yuba, and Placer Counties.

Antonucci pleaded guilty on August 19, 2016, to conspiracy to file false claims and filing false claims. She’s set to surrender on February 17, 2017, to begin serving her sentence. Taggart, 56, awaits sentencing on December 9, 2016. Federal prosecutors are pushing for equal accountability as the fallout from their crime continues to ripple through the tax system.

“As we approach tax filing season next month it is important that this sentence represents adverse consequences for those tax return preparers who file false tax returns for their clients,” warned Michael T. Batdorf, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation. “It is important for tax return preparers to follow the law and guidance set forth by IRS on preparing tax returns.” He urged taxpayers to scrutinize their returns before filing and question anything that doesn’t add up.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Rafael Nunez emphasized the broader threat: “We are working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners in law enforcement to arrest and prosecute those responsible for complex Identity Fraud Schemes and to protect the public and their personal information from theft.” The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney André M. Espinosa.