Melissa Edwards, Tax Fraud, Louisiana 2010

A Baton Rouge tax preparer has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for her role in preparing false tax returns.

Melissa Edwards, who worked at Jasmine and Melissa’s Tax Service in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to one count of wilfully aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false income tax return, according to a recent press release from the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The sentencing, which took place on March 31, 2010, also included a one-year term of supervised release following her prison term and an order to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $56,040.

The case against Edwards arose out of a March 31, 2010, indictment filed in the Middle District of Louisiana.

According to her plea agreement, Edwards prepared fraudulent tax returns for 20 clients that reported falsely inflated telephone excise tax refund (TETR) credits in the total amount of $126,856.

The TETR credit was a one-time credit available to taxpayers for the 2006 year.

The sentencing court found that the tax loss, including all relevant conduct, was between $400,000, but less than $1 million.

The case was investigated by IRS Special Agents and prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Kevin C. Lombardi and Matthew J. Mueller, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Rene Salomon of the Middle District of Louisiana.

More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts is available at www.usdoj.gov/tax/.

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