WASHINGTON (AP) — A Virginia tax return preparer was sentenced to 27 months in prison for filing false returns, federal prosecutors said.
Between 2014 and 2018, Angela Harper of Newport News prepared tax returns that claimed fraudulent credits and deductions in order to get her clients bigger refunds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern Virginia said in a news release on Monday. Harper did not sign the returns to give the impression that her clients actually did the work.
Prosecutors also said Harper didn’t review the completed returns with her clients and didn’t give them copies despite their specifically requesting them.
In all, prosecutors said Harper filed more than 400 false tax returns which cost the IRS more than $700,000. The prosecutors said Harper operated her tax preparation business in her home and hotel rooms in the Newport News area.
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