Source: United States Attorneys General
Headline: KC Woman Indicted for $100,000 Tax Refund Scheme
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Timothy A. Garrison, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., woman was indicted by a federal grand jury today for a scheme to file fraudulent tax returns in order to obtain more than $100,000 in illegal tax refunds.
Tanisha Williams, 40, of Kansas City, was charged in a 21-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo.
Today’s indictment alleges that Williams prepared and filed false income tax returns on behalf of others that claimed refunds to which she knew they were not entitled. Williams allegedly caused 20 false returns to be filed for tax years 2012 through 2014, claiming approximately $102,172 in refunds.
At times, Williams recruited individuals to file federal income tax returns under their own names and Social Security numbers. At other times, the indictment says, Williams used stolen identity information to file federal income tax returns. Williams allegedly used false Form W-2 information to inflate the income on the federal individual income returns filed for some of the taxpayers. At other times, Williams fraudulently caused dependents to be listed on tax returns for individuals knowing the dependents were not associated with the taxpayer listed on the return.
Williams requested the refunds be deposited onto pre-paid debit cards. Once the funds were deposited to the debit cards, she would withdraw cash from them or utilize the funds for her personal expenses.
Williams is charged with 13 counts of making false claims, four counts of wire fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft.
Garrison cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Ketchmark. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.