PENSACOLA WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO PREPARING FALSE TAX RETURNS AND IDENTITY THEFT CHARGES

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Khristine N. Harper, 42, of Pensacola, pled guilty in federal court to twenty counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns and one count of identity theft. The guilty plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “I applaud the excellent investigative work by our federal law enforcement partners to identify and dismantle this offender’s sophisticated fraud scheme. Defrauding the federal government victimizes every taxpaying citizen, and my office will aggressively pursue criminal prosecutions of fraudsters to ensure they are held accountable to the full extent of the law for their crimes.”

Court documents reflect that between 2018 and 2024, Harper routinely prepared and filed fraudulent income tax returns for her clients by listing false amounts for various deductions, credits, and other items that were never provided to her by those clients. After Harper became aware in July 2023 that the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation was investigating her, she changed the name of her tax preparation business from Kings Tax Service to Echelon Tax. She also obtained a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) in another person’s name without permission and filed her clients’ 2023 returns using that fraudulently obtained PTIN. For just the twenty specific returns listed in the indictment that were the basis of the counts to which Harper pled guilty, Harper caused over $103,000 in tax loss to the Internal Revenue Service.

Sentencing is currently set for December 17, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States District Judge M. Casey Rodgers.

The conviction was the result of a joint investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alicia H. Forbes.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.