Utah Resident Sentenced to Prison for Filing False Claims for Tax Refunds

A Spanish Fork, Utah, man was sentenced today to serve 33 months in prison for filing false claims for income tax refunds, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. 

U.S. District Judge Dee Benson also ordered Stanley J. Wardle to pay $29,527 in restitution to the IRS and to serve three years of supervised released upon his release from prison. 

On Dec. 9, 2013, immediately before his trial was to begin, Wardle pleaded guilty to nine counts of filing false claims for a tax refund.  According to the indictment, in January 2009, Wardle filed a false individual income tax return which sought a refund of $32,115.  Additionally, between December 2008 and May 2009, Wardle prepared eight false tax returns on behalf of others, seeking more than $600,000 in refunds.

This case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Michael Romano and Stuart Wexler of the Tax Division.