Court Orders Defendant to Repay $66,938.00 to the IRS for Filing Fraudulent Tax Returns

Acting United States Attorney Steve Butler of the Southern District of Alabama announces that Senior United States District Court Judge, William H. Steele, sentenced Destina Yetta Parker aka Desinta Yetta Parker on August 22, 2017 to serve a term of five (5) years on probation.  The defendant pled guilty on April 25, 2017 to the charges of Aiding and Assisting the Preparation of a False or Fraudulent Return Statement in violation of 26 USC § 7206(2) and Willfully Failing to File a Tax Return in violation of 26 USC § 7203.  Judge Steele ordered the defendant to pay restitution in the amount of $66,928.00, as a condition of her probation. 

The investigation revealed that the defendant, who is a registered tax preparer, electronically filed seventeen income tax returns with unverifiable Household Help (HSH) income for the tax years 2011 and 2012.  Most of the returns reported just enough unverifiable HSH income to qualify for the maximum amount of Earned Income Credit and thus receive a larger income tax refund.  Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service learned from the defendant’s clients that many of the clients were unaware of HSH income.  Some of the clients admitted that they never performed the work indicated on their tax returns.  The defendant failed to file a personal income tax return for the tax year 2013.

The case was investigated by the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation Division.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lawrence J. Bullard and Michael D. Anderson for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.