Another Individual Pleads Guilty in Fraudulent W-2 Tax Scheme
Cedric Hayes, 27, of St. Louis, Missouri, pled guilty today in federal district court to the offense of Filing A False Federal Income Tax Return, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today. The charge carries a maximum possible penalty of up to three years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 13, 2013.
Overall, the Indictment in this case charged a total of eight individuals. Hayes admitted to participating as a part of a scheme that prepared and provided false Forms W-2 to friends and relatives for the purpose of enabling them to file false federal income tax returns and receive false federal tax refunds. The W-2's were falsified in representing that certain individuals were employees of Masters Touch Cleaning Services, Inc., a Missouri corporation. The W-2's also falsely represented wages paid, falsely represented federal income taxes withheld, falsely represented Social Security taxes withheld, and falsely represented Medicare taxes withheld.
The Indictment is the result of an ongoing investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service/Criminal Investigations. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman R. Smith.
To report criminal tax fraud call the I.R.S. Criminal Investigations at (618) 622-2160 or by sending the information to the Internal Revenue Service, Fresno, CA 93888.
