Quick Tax Trio Hit With Federal Prison Time

CORDELE, GA – Three former tax professionals are trading their calculators for cell blocks after a federal court handed down sentences for a brazen four-year scheme to defraud the United States. Greene Wylie Sheppard, Sabrina Johnson-Lavant, and Chandra Henderson ran a racket out of Quick Tax, a Cordele, Georgia business, inflating client refunds with bogus wages and stolen identities.

Sheppard, the owner of Quick Tax, received the harshest sentence: 56 months in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and aggravated identity theft. His employees, Johnson-Lavant and Henderson, weren’t getting off easy either, receiving 18 and 8 months respectively, both also convicted of conspiracy. The sentencing took place this month, with Sheppard receiving his on July 11, 2013, and the others yesterday.

The scheme was simple, but effective – and deeply damaging. Court documents reveal the trio didn’t just inflate wages to qualify clients for larger tax credits. They actively bought other people’s identifying information, then sold it to their clients, allowing them to fraudulently claim those individuals as dependents. Detailed notebooks, meticulously tracking the purchased identities and outstanding debts, were seized during the investigation, painting a clear picture of the calculated operation.

“They weren’t just preparing taxes, they were building a house of cards on a foundation of stolen lives,” said a source close to the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The audacity of selling identities like commodities… it’s sickening.” Over the four years the scheme ran, Quick Tax managed to claim over $400,000 in fraudulent refunds, money stolen from honest taxpayers.

The Justice Department and the IRS’s Criminal Investigation division were instrumental in bringing the case to light. Assistant Attorney General Keneally praised the work of Special Agents from the IRS and Trial Attorneys Alexander Effendi and Charles Edgar Jr. of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case. This conviction serves as a stark warning: manipulating the tax system and exploiting identities carries severe consequences.

Grimy Times will continue to follow this case and report on any further developments. If you have information regarding tax fraud or identity theft, contact the Office of Public Affairs at 202-514-2007, or Sue McKinney, Public Affairs Specialist, United States Attorney’s Office at (478) 621-2602. Don’t become another victim in this ongoing epidemic of financial crime.