Augusta “Ghost” Tax Return Preparer Sentenced to Prison for Tax Fraud

AUGUSTA, GA: A Richmond County woman who operated a “ghost” tax preparation business in Augusta, Georgia, has been sentenced to federal prison and ordered to pay restitution for defrauding the IRS.

Kim Brown, 40, of Augusta, Georgia, was sentenced to 22 months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of Aiding and Assisting in the Preparation and Filing of False Income Tax Returns, said Margaret E. Heap, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall also ordered Brown to pay $541,912 in restitution and to serve one year of supervised release upon completion of her prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system. 

“In collaboration with our law enforcement partners, we continue to pursue those who defraud the government,” said U.S. Attorney Heap. “Kim Brown stole money from taxpayers, and this sentence holds her accountable.”

“Not signing off on a tax return is just one of the signs someone is acting as a ghost preparer,” said Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “Today’s sentencing of Kim Brown is an example of IRS Criminal Investigation special agents working diligently to protect taxpayers from dishonest tax preparers and a notification to the public of just one scheme utilized by ghost tax preparers.”

As described in court documents and at sentencing, Brown operated a tax preparation business out of her Augusta, Georgia, residence in 2022 where she acted as a “ghost preparer” of income tax returns.  Brown operated as a “ghost” preparer because, contrary to IRS requirements she failed to identify herself as a paid preparer on the tax returns that she prepared and filed for her clients. As a “ghost” preparer, Brown fabricated income to qualify her clients for tax credits, claimed fake deductions to boost the size of the refund, and charged clients a fee based on a percentage of the tax refund. Brown did not provide her clients with a copy of the tax returns she prepared, nor did she review the returns with clients before electronically filing them with the IRS.  Brown and another individual “ghost” prepared false tax returns that caused the U.S. Department of Treasury to issue $541,912 in false tax refunds.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.C. Jacobs, III.