Jury Convicts Hampton Roads Tax Preparer of Fraud

NORFOLK, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Norfolk woman today on 5 counts of wire fraud and 33 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent income tax returns.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Nikia Tull, 43, served as the co-owner and operator of YT Phoenix Enterprises, Inc., aka Phoenix Financial Tax Service, a tax preparation service. Between 2014 and 2018, Tull willfully aided and assisted in, and counseled and advised the preparation and presentation to the IRS of 33 federal income tax returns containing numerous false and fraudulent items. In 2019, Tull continued her fraud by submitting forged and fraudulently altered bank statements to FORA Financial LLC, a private lending company located in New York, in support of loan applications for thousands of dollars.

Tull is scheduled to be sentenced on April 12, 2021.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar accepted the verdict.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel P. Shean and Joseph L. Kosky are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:20-cr-9.