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Houston Tax Man Fields Gets 9 Years for $3M Scheme
HOUSTON – Winfred Fields, a Houston-area tax preparer, is trading his calculator for a prison cell after being sentenced to 109 months behind bars for masterminding a $3,097,974.19 tax refund fraud. Fields, convicted on 15 counts of fraud and tax violations following a two-week trial, systematically ripped off foreign workers employed in the Gulf of Mexico’s oil and gas industry.
Fields operated under a trio of business names – Fields Enterprises, Your Tax Professionals, and The Tax Boss – from an office on Richmond Avenue. The scheme, revealed in court, involved filing false tax returns on behalf of crewmembers working on the Outer Continental Shelf, falsely claiming they were exempt from U.S. taxes under treaties with the United Kingdom, Spain, or New Zealand. These weren’t oversight errors; this was calculated deception.
“In order to enrich himself and line his own pockets, the defendant mislead his clients by falsely claiming an international tax treaty was justification for amending their tax returns,” stated D. Richard Goss, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s (CI) Houston Field Office. The IRS had already received withholdings and reported the income, but Fields swooped in, promising refunds and pocketing the lion’s share. He charged a hefty $2,500 for the first return and $1,000 for subsequent ones, demanding direct deposit of the refunds.
The money flowed through a complex network: direct deposits into Fields’ accounts, cashing checks at a Houston business, and even funneling funds through attorney trust accounts – all to obscure the trail. Fields initially forwarded some of the refunds to the workers, but quickly stopped, leaving them chasing phantom money while he raked in approximately $1,302,271.75 for himself. He responded to their inquiries with a barrage of lies, stringing them along as he continued to siphon off their tax money. Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) emphasized the collaborative effort to dismantle the scheme, stating USPIS is “committed to working with our law enforcement partners to ensure the U.S. Mails are not used as a tool to facilitate these fraudulent schemes.”
Fields’ defense attempted to paint him as a well-intentioned businessman who simply made mistakes and intended to deliver the refunds eventually. The jury wasn’t buying it. They rejected his claims of good faith and found him guilty on all 15 counts. U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. handed down the 109-month sentence, followed by three years of supervised release, sending a clear message that exploiting hardworking individuals for personal gain will not be tolerated.
Fields was allowed to remain on bond pending the start of his sentence. While he may have enjoyed the fruits of his ill-gotten gains for a time, Winfred Fields is now facing a long stretch to reflect on the cost of his greed. This case serves as a stark reminder that even seemingly complex financial crimes will be exposed, and those responsible will be held accountable.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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