Katie Tomeko Green-Horn, Tax Fraud Conspiracy, Alabama 2014

Birmingham, AL – In a shocking turn of events, a mother-daughter duo has been charged with a conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) out of millions of dollars in tax refunds.

Katie Tomeko Green-Horn, 38, owner of Katie’s Tax Service in York, Alabama, and her mother Sandra Lenora Green, 60, a tax preparer at the business, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on 20 counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that Green-Horn and her mother conspired to defraud the IRS between January 2011 and April 2014 by obstructing the agency’s collection of income taxes. The defendants repeatedly prepared fraudulent tax returns for clients by claiming false education and residential energy credits, false business losses, and inflated business expenses.

The indictment states that the defendants’ actions were motivated by a desire to increase the refund amounts, thereby boosting their clients’ preparation fees. ‘The defendants repeatedly prepared fraudulent tax returns for clients by claiming false education and residential energy credits, false business losses and inflated business expenses,’ according to the indictment.

Green-Horn is also charged with three counts of making a false return on her own tax forms for the calendar years 2011 through 2013 by not disclosing income from her tax business, which she was legally required to do as its sole proprietor. The indictment charges that Green-Horn knowingly omitted nearly $700,000 in personal income from KTS over those three years.

The indictment further charges Green-Horn with seven counts of assisting in preparing and presenting false returns for clients by including fraudulent credits and deductions on their tax forms. Green is charged with nine counts of assisting in preparing and presenting false returns for including the fraudulent credits and deductions.

The maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for submitting false returns and for assisting in preparing and presenting false returns is three years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Atwood.

It is essential to note that an indictment contains only charges, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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