Las Vegas Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty To Filing False Tax Returns

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Martha L. Williams, 42, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty today to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false tax return, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada.

According to court documents, Williams owns and operates MJW and Associated (formerly known as Across the Board Management), a tax preparation business in Las Vegas. Between 2009 and 2014, Williams prepared thousands of tax returns on behalf of clients of MJW and Associates. For more than 75% of her clients, Williams prepared a false tax return that inflated the taxpayer’s refund by including fictitious deductions related to businesses that did not actually exist. To make these businesses appear legitimate, Williams used the IRS’s website to apply for and receive Employer Identification Numbers for fictitious businesses. As a result of these fictitious tax returns, Williams caused at least $529,782 in tax loss by filing false returns on behalf of her clients.

This case was the product of an investigation by the IRS-Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Grimmer is prosecuting the case.

Williams is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Larry R. Hicks on May 13, 2020. Williams faces a maximum statutory penalty of three years in prison on each count, and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offenses, whichever is greatest. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

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