James L. Santelle, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that the grand jury had returned a 10-count indictment charging Roshunda Smith (age: 34) of Brown Deer, Wisconsin, and Linda Fay Townsend (age:46) of Milwaukee with conspiring to submit fraudulent tax refund claims to the United States as well as with specific instances of submitting fraudulent income tax refund claims.

According to the indictment, between February 2009 and October 2009, Smith and Townsend submitted more than 170 fraudulent income tax returns seeking more than $1.5 million in federal income tax refunds. The returns reflected false employment, income, dependents, tax withholdings, and estimated tax payment information. In addition, many of the returns falsely claimed that the taxpayer was eligible for the First Time Home Buyer Credit. The indictment alleges that Smith and Townsend recruited individuals in whose names fraudulent tax returns could be filed, as well as individuals to provide bank accounts into which fraudulent tax refunds could be deposited.

Smith also is charged with nine counts of submitting a false income tax refund claim. Townsend is charged with four counts of submitting a false income tax refund claim.

If convicted on the conspiracy charge, Smith and Townsend face up to ten years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. They also face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the individual false refund claim charges.

This matter was investigated by special agents from the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division and has been assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Matthew L. Jacobs for prosecution. A jury trial is currently scheduled for November 7, 2011.

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 guilt beyond a reasonable doubt
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