Washington, D.C. - United States Attorney Roscoe C. Howard, Jr., Vicki S.Duane, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations, and Herbert J. Huff, Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the Office of Tax and Revenue Service announced that R. Augustus Oliviere, Jr., 51, of 600 block of 46th Place, S.E., Washington, D.C., was sentenced today by United States District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan to a prison term of 12 months and one day with a recommendation of placement in a community correctional facility, to be followed by three years of supervised release. On May 30, 2001, Oliviere pled guilty to Mail Fraud and False Claims.

According to the evidence provided to the Court by the government, since 1995, R. Augustus Oliviere, Jr. operated a tax return preparation business, Frugality Financial Services. Oliviere, through his business Frugality Financial Services, used the identities of friends, relatives, and neighbors who were not employed to file false federal and District of Columbia income tax returns and generate tax refund money which he used for his own benefit. Oliviere prepared tax returns for tax payers who came to him for assistance in filing their income tax returns based on income earned from employers. In addition to these tax returns, Oliviere also prepared tax returns using the names and social security numbers for people who were not employed. Oliviere used the names and social security numbers belonging to friends and relatives, people who had previously asked him to prepare their taxes, and neighbors who had asked him for help in preparing various governmental assistance forms. Many of the returns show the "tax payer" living at an address which is Oliviere's own home, or a neighbor's, or his wife's address. Thus, the refund checks were mailed to addresses controlled by Oliviere. He prepared the false returns using false Forms W-2, the Wage and Tax Statements. The W-2 forms were false because the person did not work for the employer, did not earn salary, and did not have money withheld for federal and "state" income taxes. The "tax payers" themselves did not see the returns, did not sign the IRS forms, did not work for the employer listed, did not endorse the refund check in their names, and did not receive the tax refund check. Many of the refund checks were deposited into a liquor store's bank account with a corresponding check, minus a fee, issued to Oliviere. In sum, Oliviere filed over 50 false returns to the federal and D.C. governments, fraudulently claiming approximately $146,000 in refunds.

In announcing the sentence, United States Attorney Howard, Special Agent in Charge Duane, and Deputy Chief Financial Officer Huff praised the work of the IRS's Criminal Investigations Unit. They also cited the efforts of Office of Tax and Revenue Special Agent Nichole D. Robinson, Paralegal Specialist Paula G. Pagano and Assistant United States Attorney Virginia Cheatham, who prosecuted the case.