Brittany Patterson, False Tax Return Conspiracy, Louisiana 2023

A Louisiana woman has pleaded guilty to a second tax fraud scheme, admitting to a conspiracy to defraud the United States by filing false tax returns for clients of her tax preparation business.

Brittany Patterson, of Jefferson Parish, is accused of preparing client returns that reported false income and withholdings to generate larger tax refunds, causing a tax loss of more than $550,000 to the IRS. This is not Patterson’s first run-in with the law, as she previously pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to defraud the United States for filing false returns for clients of another tax preparation business, Crown Tax Service LLC, in 2019.

Patterson’s latest scheme took place from January through April 2015, where she and her co-conspirators filed false tax returns for clients of Pelicans Income Tax and Payroll Services, a return preparation business located in Kenner and Westwego, Louisiana.

According to court documents, Patterson also filed a return for herself that claimed a false dependent, after obtaining the dependent’s personal identifying information from a client without the client’s knowledge.

Patterson is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 5, 2022, and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

The case is being investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Jessica Kraft and William Montague of the Justice Division’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carter Guice of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Division’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans for the Eastern District of Louisiana made the announcement, highlighting the importance of holding individuals accountable for their crimes and protecting the integrity of the tax system.

Patterson’s sentencing for her previous tax fraud scheme is scheduled for Aug. 5, adding to her list of pending court appearances.

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