DOJ: Indiana tax preparer's scheme enriched clients but cost IRS $500K

INDIANAPOLIS-A tax preparer who guaranteed large refunds for her clients is headed to prison after investigators uncovered a multi-year scheme that cost the IRS over $500,000.




Christina Moles, 50, of Redkey (who also went by the name Tina Lashley) was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and assisting in the making of a false federal income tax return.




The United States Department of Justice said Moles falsified 382 federal income tax returns for numerous clients between 2015 and 2021. The clients were unaware of the falsified information but benefited from the outcome, as Moles guaranteed large tax returns.




Despite most of her clients having modest income, many of Moles' customers received tax refunds between $5,000 and $10,000.




"Due to the defendant's deceit, the United States lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in unjustified refunds. Even more troubling, her unsuspecting customers faced the threat of audits and the repayment of thousands of dollars they wrongly received, all because they trusted her business practices," said John E. Childress, acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.




Investigators said Moles wrongly acquired these large tax refunds by falsifying higher education documents and tax forms in order to claim that her clients qualified for the American Opportunity Tax Credit. This credit is for education expenses for eligible students for the first four years of higher education. Moles claimed her clients incurred these "educational expenses" while attending Ivy Tech or Penn Foster online college. In reality, her clients didn't attend either of these schools.




"Christina Moles exploited a tax credit designed to ease the burden of higher education-twisting it into a tool for fraud," said Ramsey E. Covington, acting special agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Chicago Field Office. "Her deceit didn't just cheat the system; it undermined a benefit intended to help families invest in their futures. When trust is traded for profit, everyone pays the price."




As part of her punishment, Moles was ordered to pay $567,019 in restitution. She will also be placed on supervised release for three years after his prison stint.





via: https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/doj-indiana-tax-preparers-scheme-enriched-clients-but-cost-irs-500k/