North Carolina Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud Scheme | OPA

A North Carolina return preparer pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the United States.

According to court documents, Hildares Kinkesha Parker-Greene managed a tax return preparation business located in Kinston, North Carolina, from at least January 2016 through March 2016. Parker-Greene conspired with another return preparer to fraudulently inflate clients’ tax refunds by claiming false wages, federal income tax withholdings, and dependents. This fraudulent conduct caused clients to receive refunds to which they were not entitled.

Additionally, between 2017 and 2018, Parker-Greene operated a tax preparation business out of her home and continued to prepare false returns for clients. In total, the false returns prepared by Parker-Greene and her co-conspirator sought to defraud the IRS of more than $550,000.

Parker-Greene is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge James C. Dever III and faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. She also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. Judge Dever will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Robert J. Higdon Jr. for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Michael Jones and William Guappone of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the Division’s website.