Stockton Tax Preparer Convicted on Eight Counts of Tax Fraud

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After a six-day trial, a federal jury found Paola Bedoy, 64, of Stockton, guilty today of all eight counts of preparing fraudulent tax returns, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. The trial was held before U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller.

According to evidence presented at trial, for years Bedoy ran a tax preparation business in Stockton called Javez Enterprises, and she assisted numerous taxpayers in preparing fraudulent federal income tax returns by claiming thousands of dollars in earned income credits and child tax credits based upon ineligible dependents. Among other things, Bedoy listed a child as disabled when he was not, added dependents to returns that clients did not know, and repeatedly sought tax credits based on non-citizen children living in Mexico who she knew did not qualify for those tax credits, all to inflate tax refunds.

Evidence at trial revealed that Bedoy often directed her clients’ refund checks to her home and to a post office box in Stockton, and on multiple occasions, she stole portions of her clients’ refunds for her own personal benefit. The evidence also revealed that Bedoy would inflate her clients’ tax refunds so that they could pay her tax preparation fees, which she would sometimes increase in exchange preparing a fraudulent return.

This case is the product of an investigation by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher S. Hales and Matthew M. Yelovich are prosecuting the case.

Bedoy is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Mueller on February 11, 2019. Bedoy faces a maximum statutory penalty of three years in prison and a $100,000 fine for each count of conviction. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.