Irene Tamika Smith, Tax Fraud, Georgia 2023

A Cordele, Ga. tax preparer has been handed a 33-month prison sentence for conspiring with coworkers to defraud the United States by filing false tax returns.

Irene Tamika Smith, a former employee of Quick Tax, worked with Greene Wylie Sheppard, Sabrina Johnson-Lavant, and Chandra Henderson to inflate clients' wages and exploit tax credits.

Between 2006 and 2009, Quick Tax claimed over $500,000 in fraudulent refunds.

Smith and her co-conspirators also sold other people's identities to clients, allowing them to claim additional dependents on their tax returns.

The scheme was uncovered after a four-year investigation by special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation.

Smith's co-conspirators, Sheppard, Henderson, and Johnson-Lavant, each pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy and were sentenced in 2013 to 56 months, 18 months, and 8 months in prison, respectively.

As part of her sentence, Smith must pay $566,171 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Alexander Effendi and Charles Edgar Jr. of the Tax Division.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/former-georgia-tax-return-preparer-sentenced-tax-fraud