FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
February 01, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:11-cr-00045-AWI

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that a federal grand jury returned a 49-count indictment on January 27, 2011, charging Bertha Renell Vaughn, aka Bertha Renell Milton, 41, of Kern County, with aiding and assisting in the presentation of a false income tax return to the Internal Revenue Service.

According to the indictment, Vaughn owns and operates a tax preparation business in Bakersfield, Nationwide Tax Solution, also referred to as Vaughn’s Tax Service. She added fabricated items to clients’ returns such as deductions, losses, income, wages, and withholdings that were not claimed by the taxpayers. She did this in order to have the IRS generate a refund to the taxpayer and to charge her clients higher fees. The indictment alleges that more than 90 percent of the taxpayers utilizing Vaughn’s tax preparation services received a tax refund from the IRS.

This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy R. Jehangiri is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Vaughn faces a maximum penalty for each count of three years in prison, a $250,000 fine, a period of supervised release, and restitution. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

The charges are only allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

(Download Factual Basis)

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