Three Charged with Filing $1.9 Million in False Tax Returns

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A trio of Columbus tax-return preparers has been charged with filing false tax returns and defrauding the United States of nearly $2 million. Two of the three defendants pleaded guilty in federal court today.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and William Cheung, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation, announced the case.

According to court documents, Quiana Mathews, 38, of Montgomery, Ala.; Virginia Earnest, 41, of Conway, Ark.; and Barbara Huffman, 56, of Montgomery, Ala. operated a seasonal tax business in Columbus under the name GQ’s Tax Pros LLC.

Mathews was arraigned on March 20, 2019, in federal court in Columbus and Earnest and Huffman today pleaded guilty.

According to court documents, from 2012 through 2016, the defendants filed more than 1,200 returns claiming more than $5.3 million in refunds.

Specifically, 100 percent of the returns they filed claimed a refund, approximately 93 percent claimed the Earned Income Credit and approximately 75 percent claimed Schedule C self-employment income or expenses.

The defendants filed returns with false Schedule C information in order to qualify taxpayers for the Earned Income Credit. The Earned Income Credit is a tax credit ranging from approximately $400 to $6,100, which is available to low-income taxpayers who have earned income within a certain limited range. Because the credit is refundable, taxpayers who qualify for the credit can receive a refund even if they have little or no tax withholdings.

Some returns also claimed fictitious dependents to generate tax benefits.

“Our tax system depends on the honesty of filers and preparers,” said U.S. Attorney Glassman. “As tax season continues, let’s keep in mind that willfully manipulating tax filings is fraud against the United States. That’s a federal crime that the IRS will investigate and we will prosecute.”

Mathews, Earnest and Huffman were each charged with conspiring to defraud the United States through false claims, which is a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

According to Huffman’s plea, more than 80% of the refunds generated by returns she prepared were due to fraud, resulting in nearly $237,000 in tax loss.

Likewise, more than half of the refunds Earnest generated by returns she prepared were due to fraud, resulting in more than $94,000 in tax loss. The total tax loss caused by the trio was more than $1.9 million.

As part of their pleas, Huffman and Earnest have agreed to pay back the tax losses in restitution.

Mathews has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial on July 16, 2019.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by IRS Criminal Investigation and Assistant United States Attorney Peter Glenn-Applegate, who is representing the United States in this case.

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