Glendale Woman Sentenced for Filing False Tax Returns

     PHOENIX – On Oct. 29, 2018, Jenniffer Torner Lopez, 40, of Glendale, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Diane J. Humetewa to fifteen months incarceration.  Torner had previously pleaded guilty to one count of fraud in connection with identification documents and a separate count of illegal reentry after deportation.

     In her plea agreement, Torner admitted to engaging in a false tax preparation scheme out of, and storing foreign identification cards in, her home. She used the identification cards to obtain taxpayer identification numbers and file returns for foreign nationals, many of whom neither lived nor worked in the United States.  The Internal Revenue Service paid out over $246,000 in tax refunds as a result of Torner’s scheme, and she put some of her share of this money towards the purchase of her residence.  As part of the plea agreement, the Court ordered Torner to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, which will be satisfied in part by the forfeiture of Torner’s home.

     The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations. The prosecution was handled by Gary M. Restaino and Mark J. Wenker, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER:                   CR-18-139-PHX-DJH

RELEASE NUMBER:           2018-142_Torner

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