Lynnfield Woman Pleads Guilty to Filing False Tax Returns

BOSTON – A Lynnfield woman pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to filing false tax returns, on which she claimed, among other things, more than a $370,000 mortgage interest deduction, even though the loan was in default and property had gone into foreclosure.

Karyn M. Ingram, 51, pleaded guilty to three counts of filing false tax returns for tax years 2011, 2012 and 2013. Ingram was arrested and charged in January 2018. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel scheduled sentencing for Nov. 29, 2018.

Ingram filed tax returns in which she reported false and inflated Schedule A deductions and in one year, a Schedule C business loss, in order to reduce her overall tax liability. For example, for tax years 2010 and 2011, Ingram filed returns claiming mortgage interest deductions of $45,072 and $371,427, but she had not made any mortgage payments since 2008; in fact, the loan had defaulted, and the property had gone into foreclosure. She also claimed real estate tax deductions in those same tax years, when, in reality, the real estate taxes had been paid by the mortgage lender and not by Ingram. By falsifying the deductions and losses, Ingram fraudulently reduced her tax liability by more than $126,000.

The charge of filing false tax returns provides for a sentence of no greater than three years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra S. Bower of Lelling’s Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.