William S. Duffey, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and C. Andre' Martin, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, Southeast Area, announce the sentencings today of BELINDA WALKER, 46, ANGIE ABDUSSALAAM, 42, and KEILA OWENSBY, 35, all of Carrollton, Georgia, by United States District Judge G. Ernest Tidwell on charges of tax fraud.

ABDUSSALAAM, who was employed at the IRS during the time of the fraud, was sentenced to one year in federal prison, ordered to serve one year supervised release, and pay restitution of $15,581.

WALKER was sentenced to serve 10 months in prison, with half of the term to be served in community confinement, ordered to serve one year supervised release, and pay restitution of $22,418.

OWENSBY was sentenced to serve 10 months in prison, with half of the term to be served in community confinement, ordered to serve one year supervised release, and pay restitution of $30,600.

On March 20, 2003, the three defendants, who are sisters, pleaded guilty to separate Criminal Informations, charging them with preparing fraudulent tax returns. During the guilty pleas the United States advised the court that between 1996 and 1998, (while ABDUSSALAAM was working for the IRS) the three sisters defrauded the government of approximately $95,000. They perpetrated the fraud by preparing false individual income tax returns in the names of other taxpayers which claimed refunds to which the taxpayers were not entitled. Often through intermediaries, the sisters enticed others to provide their social security numbers and the numbers of their children with the promise of money from an unspecified government program. Using this information, the sisters would then prepare and file an individual income tax return in the name of the taxpayer who provided the information, but with an address to which the sisters had access, such as their own address or the address of a relative. The returns reported falsely inflated wages and/or falsely claimed dependents. On that basis, the returns claimed the Earned Income Credit (EIC) and a tax refund, usually around $3,500 per return. When the refund check arrived, the sisters or an intermediary would take the taxpayer to negotiate the check and split the proceeds. The tax payer received only a modest portion of the refund -- between $150 and $1,000 -- while the balance went to one of the sisters.

This case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney R. Joseph Burby prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact William S. Duffey, Jr., United States Attorney or F. Gentry Shelnutt, Chief, Criminal Division, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan.