Lynnfield Woman Sentenced for Filing False Tax Returns

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

Karyn M. Ingram, 51, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to three years of probation with the first six months be served in community confinement, and ordered to pay $177,852 in restitution. In August 2018, Ingram pleaded guilty to three counts of filing false tax returns for tax years 2011, 2012 and 2013.

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.

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 prosecuted the case.