MIAMI-DADE RETURN PREPARER SENTENCEDFOR PREPARING FALSE INCOME TAX RETURNS
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), announced that defendant Tomeka Wimberly was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Paul C. Huck to twenty-two (22) months’ imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $ 44,682.
The sentencing follows a four day trial in July 2011, during which the jury found Wimberly guilty of twenty-four counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of fraudulent income tax returns, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(2). Wimberly was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service after her conviction and has been detained since that time.
The evidence at trial revealed that Wimberly was a self-taught tax preparer who prepared thousands of false tax returns between 2004 and 2005, which resulted in her clients receiving thousands of dollars in unearned refunds. The false returns reported fictitious and/or inflated deductions for un-reimbursed employee business expenses, charitable contributions, mortgage interest, and investment deductions, as well as false education, child care, and child and dependent expenses. During her first year in business, Wimberly prepared more than 700 tax returns and obtained more than $2 million in refunds. By 2006, Wimberly prepared more than 1000 tax returns and obtained more than $4 million in refunds.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CID. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Selmore.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
