U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Southern District of Mississippi
188 East Capitol Street
Suite 500
Jackson, Mississippi 39201-0101
Telephone 601-965-4480
Facsimile 601-965-4409

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2004

GULFPORT RETURN PREPARER CHARGED IN FEDERAL INCOME TAX CASE

DUNN LAMPTON, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, and MICHAEL J. NELSON, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, announced that RAYSHA HARVEY CALLAHAN, of Gulfport, Mississippi, was charged with presenting false claims for payment of federal income tax refunds based on fraudulent tax returns she prepared for taxpayers. CALLAHAN made her first appearance in the case earlier today before United States Magistrate Judge John M. Roper in federal district court in Gulfport, Mississippi.
CALLAHAN was charged with 24 counts of presenting false claims for payment of tax refunds based on fraudulent federal income tax returns she prepared for taxpayers during calendar year 2002. The tax refund claims listed in the felony information total $93,716.00 and range in amounts from $495.00 to $5,536.00.

Each of the charges against CALLAHAN carries a maximum sentence of five years of imprisonment, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a period of supervised release of up to three years.

United States Attorney LAMPTON stressed that the charges represent an accusation only and all defendants are entitled to a presumption of innocence.
Assistant United States Attorney GAINES CLEVELAND is the prosecutor in charge of the case.

Mr. LAMPTON praised the efforts of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation for its diligent work in the investigation of this case.