Tax & Accounting News

IRS tax refund fraud defendant sentenced to 63 months in jail.

by
Lee Reams II
on
7/30/2017
IRS tax refund fraud defendant sentenced to 63 months in jail.

According to the US Department of Justice, Tarkara Cooper, from the District of Columbia, was sentenced to 63 months in prison for her role in a 12,000 + fraudulent tax return scheme. Ms. Cooper was involved in a sophisticated scheme that involved stolen identities and filing fraudulent tax returns from 2005 to 2012. Ms. Coopers two co-defendants, Tony Bryant, 55, and Brian Bryant, 29, were convicted February 17, 2017, but are still awaiting sentencing.

The defendants used stolen identities to claim over 12,000 fraudulent tax refunds totalling at least $42 million dollars. They would mail the refunds to more than 400 addresses in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. The tax returns used phony dependents when claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit. In total, almost 24 other participants have pleaded guilty to being involved in the scheme. The IRS paid out $2,285,717 in bogus refunds. Ms. Cooper was ordered to pay $1,926,958.14 in restitution.

Lee Reams II, writes for TaxBuzz, a tax news and advice website. Reach him at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.

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Lee Reams II

Lee Reams II

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