BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Montgomery woman to seven months in prison and ordered her to pay $45,489 in restitution to the IRS for conspiring to defraud the government by filing false tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and IRS Criminal Investigations Division Special Agent in Charge Reginael D. McDaniel.
           
U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon sentenced KASANTA STEWART, 30, for conspiring to file false tax returns using stolen identities in order to generate tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service. STEWART and her co-defendant, Michael Dumas, 41, both pleaded guilty in June to the conspiracy charge. Their scheme caused the IRS to generate more than $127,000 in refunds on false returns. Dumas has not yet been sentenced.

“Prison time is deserved for tax preparers who file fraudulent returns in order to steal from the IRS,” Vance said. “That crime costs taxpayers millions of dollars every year.”

“Tax refunds are issued to taxpayers who are entitled to them,” McDaniel said. “The IRS Criminal Investigations Division will continue to aggressively pursue those who prepare false claims for refunds for the purpose of enriching themselves and depleting the United States Treasury,” he said.

This case was investigated by the IRS. Assistant U.S. Attorney Davis A. Barlow prosecuted the matter.

 

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