Federal Charges Brought Concerning Lansing Federal Income Tax Refund Scam

Over $1,000,000 in tax refunds sought by tax fraudsters.

           GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Miles, Jr. announced today that Takabvako Chiwocha-Crowell, age 40, currently residing in the Dallas, Texas metropolitan area, was charged in a federal indictment in the Western District of Michigan, which alleges a conspiracy to file false claims against the United States government.

           The indictment alleges that over six hundred false federal individual tax returns were filed by Chiwocha-Crowell in 2011, with many of those returns submitted to the IRS listing a residential address in the Lansing, Michigan area. The indictment further alleges family members and friends assisted Ms. Chiwocha-Crowell in the scam.

           The charges in an indictment are merely accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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