Department of Justice Seal Department of Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TAX
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

Justice Department Seeks to Bar St. Louis Woman
from Preparing Tax Returns for Others

School Bus Driver Allegedly Prepares Bogus Tax Returns on the Side

WASHINGTON — The United States has sued a St. Louis woman in federal court to permanently bar her from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction suit against Yolanda White alleges that she prepared federal income tax returns for customers improperly claiming fabricated or exaggerated income tax deductions.

According to the government complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, White works as a school bus driver but also prepares fraudulent income tax returns for others. Government papers filed in the case state that many of White’s customers are Bosnian immigrants who speak little or no English. According to the complaint, White has prepared at least 337 federal income tax returns for others since 2004. The IRS has audited 30 of those returns so far and found that every return contained one or more bogus income tax deductions.

In addition to seeking to bar White from preparing federal income tax returns, the suit seeks a court order requiring her to provide the government a list of her customers’ names, mailing and e-mail addresses, as well as telephone and Social Security numbers.

Since 2001, the Justice Department has obtained injunctions against more than 220 tax preparers and tax-fraud promoters. More information about these cases is available on the Justice Department Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2007.htm. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at www.usdoj.gov/tax.

###

07-066