Nashville Woman Pleads Guilty To Filing False Tax Claim

Karen Liane Miller, 60, of Nashville, Tennessee,  pleaded guilty yesterday to filing a false claim with the U.S. government, announced David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to court documents and statements at the plea hearing, Miller admitted that from about August 2008 until about July 2009, she knowingly prepared and submitted multiple false federal income tax returns to the IRS on behalf of her friends, family and herself.  The returns reported false amounts of taxable income on attached Forms 1099-OID (Original Issue Discount) and Forms 1099-A that Miller created and fraudulently represented to have been issued by financial institutions.  The returns also reported identical or near-identical false amounts of federal income tax withheld from the fictitious income to generate claims for tax refunds that were significantly higher than what the taxpayers were entitled to receive.  Miller filed 48 fraudulent tax returns that falsely claimed more than $19.8 million in refunds.  The IRS issued $1,003,238 in refunds for eight of the 48 fraudulent returns.

The sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 8, 2016.  Pursuant to the plea agreement, Miller faces a potential statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison, restitution in the amount of $1,003,328 to the IRS and a fine.

This case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Daughtrey and Trial Attorneys Alexander R. Effendi and Nathan P. Brooks of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.