Columbus Woman Sentenced for Tax Fraud
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tawnya Writesel, also known as Tawnya Rutan, 40, of Columbus, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 12 months and one day in prison and was ordered to pay more than $108,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for conspiring to submit false claims for income tax refunds with the IRS.
Tawnya Writesel, an Ohio resident, was one of several individuals involved in a scheme to defraud the IRS by filing approximately 100 false income tax returns in an attempt to obtain fraudulent income tax refunds totaling approximately $548,382.00.
According to court documents, between April 2012 and September 2015, Writesel conspired to defraud the IRS by filing false income tax returns, which contained fictitious information including false Schedule C income and expenses, and fraudulently claimed education and Earned Income Credits.
The majority of these false tax returns contained the identification of real people, including names, social security numbers and dates of birth, and used the identifying information as either the taxpayers or the dependents on the false income tax returns.
Co-defendants Michael (also known as Mickey) A. Prisley, Amy K. France and Denard T. Nelson were also charged in relation to this case. Prisley, an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio and had served as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Athens County, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to submit false claims and is awaiting sentencing.
France pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to submit false claims and one count of identity theft and was sentenced to 37 months in prison. She was also ordered to pay nearly $467,000 in restitution. Nelson pleaded guilty to one count of identity theft and was sentenced to five years of probation. He was also ordered to pay more than $87,000 in restitution.
“This is the last defendant to be sentenced in this conspiracy, one in which they all chose to line their pockets with stolen income tax refunds,” said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.
The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Jessica H. Kim prosecuted the case.
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Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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