Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to Aiding and Assisting the Filing of False Tax Returns
Melinda M. Lambert, a resident of Montgomery County, Ala., has pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return, announced the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today.
Lambert, a tax return preparer at Flash Tax, a tax return preparation business, prepared and filed at least approximately 400 tax returns in 2005 and 2006 and 100 tax returns in 2007. The majority of these tax returns were false.
According to court documents, Lambert admitted that she manipulated refund amounts on clients’ tax returns by inflating or deflating specific numbers and/or by adding totally fictitious numbers to the return. The false returns she prepared resulted in the IRS dispersing approximately $900,000 in false tax refunds that her clients were not entitled to receive.
Lambert faces a maximum of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for her role in the tax return scheme.
The case was investigated by the IRS – Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Charles M. Edgar Jr. and Michael Boteler.
Melinda M. Lambert, 37, pleaded guilty before federal Chief Magistrate Judge Susan Russ Walker in the U.S. District Court in Montgomery, Ala., on January 23, 2007.
Lambert’s guilty plea is a significant blow to her and her accomplices who thought they could cheat the system and get away with it. The Justice Department and the IRS are committed to rooting out tax return scams and bringing those responsible to justice.
This case highlights the importance of tax return preparers being honest and transparent in their work. Lambert’s actions not only cheated her clients out of their rightful refunds but also undermined the trust that the public has in the tax system.
Related Federal Cases
- Stella Marie Dunlap, Aiding and Subscribing a False Tax Return, Louisiana 2015 · Louisiana
- Stella Marie Dunlap, Aiding and Subscribing a False Tax Return, Louisiana 2015 · Louisiana
- Justin C. Freeman, Filing a False Tax Return, Connecticut 2019 · Kentucky
- Peter Zavell, Filed False Tax Return, Florence FL, 2000 · Florida
- Racyna Antoinette Henry, Aiding and Assisting in Preparation of Fraudulent Federal Tax Returns, Texas 2013 · Texas
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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