LOCAL TAX RETURN PREPARER SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR FALSIFYING TAX RETURNS

(HOUSTON) - A local tax return preparer has been sentenced to prison for preparing false income tax returns, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today. 

Kimyosia Michelle Byrd was convicted after pleading guilty to charges she prepared false tax returns for local clients that inflated their refunds by $301,156 during 2004-2006.

This morning, U.S. District Judge David Hittner sentenced Byrd to three years in federal prison without parole. Byrd was also ordered make full pay restitution of $301,156 and serve a one-year-term of supervised release with a special condition she not be involved in any business preparing tax returns.

At her re-arraignment in March 2010, Byrd stipulated that in an effort to build a reputation for generating large federal income tax refunds for her clients, she knowingly prepared, caused to be prepared and filed a number of false federal income tax returns that generated excessive refunds for clients for tax years 2004 through 2006. These returns were based upon false and fraudulently inflated business losses, deductions and credits that were intended by Byrd to cause, and did cause, aggregate losses to the United States Treasury of approximately $301,156.

On Feb. 12, 2005, Byrd knowingly prepared and caused to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service a false 2004 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return - Form 1040 for a client which included materially false business loss deduction without the client’s knowledge resulting in an excessive federal income tax refund for the client and caused a loss of approximately $13,837 to the U.S. Treasury.

Byrd was permitted to remain on bond pending the issuance of an order to surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future to begin serving her sentence.

The investigation leading to the charges against Byrd was conducted by the Houston Office of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jimmy Sledge.

 

 

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