U.S. Department Of Justice

United States Attorney

Northern District of Indiana

The United States Attorney's Office announced that a Grand Jury sitting in South Bend, Indiana, returned the following indictment March 12, 2004:

CATHY D. SNIDER, also known as CATHY D. DEPALMA, age 48, of Culver, Indiana charged with 27 counts of preparing false and fraudulent federal individual income tax returns for 18 different clients.

It is alleged that SNIDER willfully aided and assisted, counseled and advised the preparation and presentation to the IRS of U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns which contained false statements regarding income, earned income credit, and Schedule C business expenses.

Jack Massey, Public Information Officer for the IRS, Criminal Investigation Division stated that “Taxpayers should choose carefully when hiring a tax preparer. The majority of return preparers are professional, competent and provide excellent service to their clients. Unfortunately, unscrupulous tax return preparers can cause considerable financial and legal problems by filing false and fraudulent returns to defraud the government, the tax paying public and their own clients.”

SNIDER surrendered to U.S. Marshals this morning and will appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein this afternoon.

Upon conviction, any sentence to be imposed will be pursuant to the relevant Sentencing Guideline.

This charge was filed as the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service. This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald J. Schmid, who can be reached at 574/236-8287 for any inquiries.

The United States Attorney's Office emphasized that an indictment is merely an allegation and that all persons charged are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.