Press Release
HIALEAH TAX RETURN PREPARER PLEADS GUILTY TO PREPARING FALSE INCOME TAX RETURNS FOR CLIENTS
September 17, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Daniel W. Auer, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, announced that defendant Zully M. Cordoba, of Hialeah, FL, pled guilty earlier today in connection with a forty-five count Indictment. The June 2009 Indictment charged Cordoba with aiding in the preparation of numerous false federal income tax returns, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(2), and filing her own false income tax returns, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1).
Pursuant to the terms of a Plea Agreement filed during the plea hearing, Cordoba pled guilty to Count 14 of the Indictment. This count alleged that, on August 23, 2003, Cordoba prepared an amended Form 1040X personal tax return for a married couple who were clients of Cordoba’s income tax preparation business. In this amended tax return, Cordoba stated that the couple had collectively expended $11,900.00 in unreimbursed employee business expenses during tax year 2000, and listed an additional $3,900.00 in gifts to charity. In fact, however, no such expenses had been incurred.
In addition to her guilty plea to Count 14 of the Indictment, the Plea Agreement required Cordoba to submit a seven page factual statement to the Court. In this written statement, she admitted that she had engaged in similar criminal conduct on multiple occasions as part of a scheme that involved numerous other clients. According to Cordoba’s written statement, these clients, all of whom were employee wage earners, also had no basis to take deductions for the purported unreimbursed employee business expenses, including purported overnight business travel costs, costs associated with the business non-commuting use of their personally owned motor vehicles and related gasoline consumption, business lunches, and other job-related expenditures.
In her written statement, Cordoba also admitted to having prepared and submitted false 1040 tax returns for herself for the years 2002 through 2004 by understating the amount of gross income taken in by her business for those years, amounting to more than ten times the amount which she had reported.
Cordoba conducted a tax-return preparation business from her residence in Hialeah, FL between January 2001 and April 2003. Thereafter, through April 2005, Cordoba continued her tax preparation business under the name “Cordoba Tax Services” from storefront offices located in a mall in Hialeah, FL. For her services, Cordoba charged a $10 fee to review her clients’ original income tax returns and determine whether Form 1040X amended tax returns could be filed on their behalf. Upon completing that review, Cordoba filed false amended returns, charging her clients up to 10% of the expected tax refund based on the additional deductions that Cordoba claimed in the amended returns.
At sentencing, Cordoba faces a maximum term of imprisonment of up to (3) three years and a $250,000.00 fine. Sentencing has been scheduled for November 30, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz.
Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter B. Outerbridge.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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