Former Omaha Man Sentenced for Tax Fraud

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Adam Mwanza, age 44 of Miami, Florida, was sentenced today by the Honorable Joseph F. Bataillon.  On May 8, 2015, a federal jury convicted Mwanza of 13 counts of tax fraud for his involvement in assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.  Mwanza was sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison and ordered to pay a $1,300.00 special assessment.  He was also ordered to serve a one year term of supervised release after his release from prison with one of the terms of his supervision being that he pay $297,556.00 in restitution.

Mr. Mwanza was a tax preparer.  In tax years 2007 and 2008 Mwanza was servicing a primarily immigrant client base.  He would electronically file fraudulent returns falsely claiming rental deductions for what people were paying for their monthly rent expense and would fabricate Adjusted Gross Income amounts.  The effect of the fraud was to inflate the amount of the refunds the taxpayers received.  “Today’s sentence demonstrates the importance of selecting a reputable tax preparer,” stated Karl Stiften, IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge of the St. Louis Field Office.  “Ultimately, the taxpayer is responsible for the accuracy of their return, not the preparer.  Don’t be tempted by a refund that is too good to be true.”

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations unit.