Press Release
FORMER JACKSON HEWITT RETURN PREPARER SENTENCED FOR TAX PREPARATION FRAUD SCHEME
October 13, 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 late on October 9th, 2009, defendant Aracelis Llanos, a/k/a Sally, a/k/a Yvonne Rodriguez, 30, of Miami, was sentenced before the Honorable U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard to eighteen months of imprisonment, to be followed by three (3) years of supervised release. Llanos previously pled guilty on June 18, 2009 to making and filing fraudulent tax refund claims against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 287 and 2. Judge Lenard also ordered Llanos to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $55,137, representing the tax losses from the false tax refund claims that she filed. Llanos was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving her prison sentence by October 27, 2009.
According to the Indictment and court documents and testimony, defendant Llanos was hired at Jackson Hewitt in Miramar, FL, to prepare tax returns for clients. While working at Jackson Hewitt, Llanos prepared and submitted tax returns to the IRS for herself and her clients, claiming approximately $136,881 in fraudulent tax refunds. Specifically, Llanos submitted tax returns and Forms W-2 s containing false employer information and false income amounts in order to generate fraudulent tax refunds. Some of the clients stated that they gave Llanos a portion of their refund checks upon cashing.
Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lois Foster-Steers.
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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