United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

Arlington, Texas, Residents Sentenced to Federal Prison
for Aiding in Preparing False Federal Income Tax Returns

United States Attorney Jane J. Boyle announced that Arlington, Texas, residents, Elizabeth Annette Shipman and Irma Lee Lenard, were sentenced today in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, by the Honorable John H. McBride, United States District Judge. Both defendants pled guilty earlier this year to aiding in the preparation of a false tax return, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(2). Elizabeth Annette Shipman, age 31, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $52,497.00 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Irma Lee Lenard, age 37, was sentenced to 8 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $35,894.00 in restitution to the IRS. Judge McBride ordered that they surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on July 11, 2003.

According to documents filed in court, during 1999, Elizabeth Annette Shipman and Irma Lenard aided and abetted each other, and others, in causing false and fraudulent W-2 forms to be attached to federal income tax returns that would be filed requesting tax refunds. These phony W-2 forms contained false information about income earned and tax withholding information for the person whose name appeared on the W-2 form. The defendants recruited taxpayers who took the fraudulent W-2 forms to tax return preparation businesses in Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas, and used these fake W-2 forms to claim sufficient income to qualify for a tax refund. After the tax return using the fake W-2s were filed, the defendants received a portion of the tax refunds as payment for their role in the fraud.

U.S. Attorney Boyle praised the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Dallas Field Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David L. Jarvis.

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