Jasper Tax Preparer and Jefferson County Inmate Indicted

BEAUMONT, Texas –An east Texas man and woman have been charged with federal income tax violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Derek Cornelius Briscoe, also known as Terrance Briscoe, also known as Derek Anderson, 36, of Jasper, Texas, and Angela Dunaway, also known as Angela Coudrain, 45, an inmate in Jefferson County Jail in Beaumont, Texas, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zack Hawthorn today.

Briscoe and Dunaway were indicted on Mar. 5, 2015, and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  Briscoe was also charged with eight additional counts of preparing false tax returns.

According to information presented in court, Briscoe held himself out as a tax preparer sometimes doing business as “Thaferrets Tax Service” from his residence in Jasper, Texas.  Briscoe maintained contacts with the female inmates at the Jefferson County Jail in Beaumont, Texas.  Briscoe offered those inmates a fee in exchange for personally identifying information of other inmates that could be used to facilitate the filing of false tax returns.  Dunaway was one of those inmates who supplied Briscoe with the personally identifiable information of other inmates to file false tax returns.  The information was transmitted to Briscoe by means of recorded collect phone calls placed from the Jefferson County Jail. Briscoe also utilized JPay services to transmit money to conspirators and inmates.  JPay is an entity organized for the purpose of facilitating communication and financial transactions between inmates and non-inmates.  As part of the scheme, the false tax returns contained false wage, income and employment information, false education credits, false Making Work Pay Credit forms and false or nonexistent home addresses for taxpayers.  Brisco and Dunaway aided in the preparation and electronic filing of over 500 false federal income tax returns for the tax years 2009, 2010 and 2011 and requested fraudulent refunds in excess of $1 million.    

If convicted, both Briscoe and Dunaway face up to 20 years in federal prison for the count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  Briscoe faces an additional three years in federal prison for each of the eight counts for preparing false tax returns.  Briscoe also faces the forfeiture of his personal residence in Jasper, Texas.

This case is being investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Anne Bartow.

A grand jury indictment is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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