Former Heber City, Utah, Resident Sentenced To Prison For Filing False Claims For Tax Refunds

            SALT LAKE CITY –  April J. Rampton, 42, formerly of Heber City, Utah, was sentenced Thursday to 21 months in prison for filing false claims for income tax refunds.  U.S. District Judge Dee Benson also ordered Rampton to pay $230,678.36 in restitution to the IRS and to serve three years of supervised release upon her release from prison. 

            Rampton was convicted at trial in December 2012 of nine counts of filing false claims for refund.  According to the indictment and the proof at trial, in July 2011, Rampton filed a false individual income tax return, based on false Forms 1099-OID, which sought a refund of more than $225,000.  On these false Forms 1099-OID, Rampton listed items of debt, such as her home mortgage and credit cards, as if the bank or loan holder had withheld the entire amount of her debt as a federal income tax payment.  Rampton received a refund check from the IRS, photocopied the check, and showed it to friends and family members. Rampton then began preparing returns for friends, family members, acquaintances and strangers, all using false Forms 1099-OID that sought tax refunds corresponding to their debts.

            This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Michael Romano and Stuart Wexler of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.