Anchorage, Alaska – On August 19, 2010, an Anchorage area business woman was indicted by a federal grand jury in Anchorage in a 41-count indictment.

Acting United States Attorney Kevin Feldis announced that Frances Yvonne Rowland, 42, of Anchorage, Alaska, was indicted for 14 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of aggravated identity theft, 12 counts of credit card fraud, 2 counts of mail fraud, and 1 count of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service.

According to the indictment presented to the Grand Jury by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Bradley, Rowland owned and operated Carter and Associates, LLC, providing accounting and tax preparation services to individuals and small businesses.

The indictment alleges that during the years 2005 through 2008, Rowland devised a scheme to defraud and to obtain monies by means of false and fraudulent pretenses from her clients, and corruptly endeavored to obstruct and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws. She is also alleged to have obtained several credit cards in another person’s name without their knowledge and used them during 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Rowland allegedly persuaded clients to pay monies due and owing to the IRS to the defendant’s business trust account, promising that she would promptly transfer the funds to the IRS. Instead of paying the IRS as she had promised, it is alleged that the defendant transferred the funds to other accounts that she controlled, and used the clients’ money to pay business and personal expenses. She allegedly obtained approximately $703,950 in this manner.

Rowland is also alleged to have filed a false personal return, claiming to be a low-income taxpayer who qualified for the earned income tax credit. She is also charged with stealing her father-in-law’s identity in a scheme to obtain numerous credit cards in his name without his knowledge, and making nearly $90,000 in fraudulent charges.

The mail and wire fraud charges each carry a maximum prison term of 20 years, while the credit card fraud counts each carry a maximum term of ten years. There is a mandatory consecutive prison term of two years for aggravated identity theft. A corrupt endeavor to obstruct the internal revenue laws carried a maximum prison term of three years. Each count carries a $250,000 maximum fine. The investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations resulted in the indictment of this case. An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

Return to Top