Press Release
☷Former Chicago Area Tax Preparer Charged with False Returns and Wire Fraud
U.S. Department of Justice ( By Press Release office)
Apr 28,2022
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In an indictment unsealed today , a federal grand jury in Chicago charged a former Illinois tax preparer with filing false returns for clients , filing false returns on her own taxes , and wire fraud . According to the indictment , from 2014 to 2019 , Erica Early , formerly of Robbins and Richton Park , prepared income tax returns for her clients that included false education expenses and business income , in an effort to secure refunds from the IRS for the clients that they were not entitled to receive . Early , who was employed by the U . S . Postal Service at the time , allegedly charged clients $1 , 000 or more for each return . Early also allegedly falsified her personal income tax returns for 2014 through 2018 , claiming education credits she knew she was not eligible to receive . If convicted , Early faces a maximum penalty of three years for each count of filing false tax returns and helping clients file false tax returns , and 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud . She also faces a period of supervised release and monetary penalties . A federal district court judge 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 John R . Lausch Jr . for the Northern District of Illinois made the announcement . IRS - Criminal Investigation is investigating the case . Assistant Chief Matthew J . Kluge and Trial Attorney Boris Bourget of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case . An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law .
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