A Georgia woman was sentenced today to 51 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States by promoting a nationwide tax fraud scheme involving at least 200 participants from at least 19 states.
Yomarie Febres, of Covington, allegedly created 77 fake income tax returns that sought a total of more than $23.8 million in tax refunds from the IRS, according to federal documents and testimony given in court.
The co-conspirators of Febres organised seminars across the nation between 2014 and 2016, where they advertised the scheme and enlisted clients to submit false tax returns to the IRS by convincing them that their mortgages and other debts qualified them for refunds.
Client data was gathered, and Febres received it to use in creating false tax returns.
False statements were made on the tax forms that Febres completed, claiming that the clients were entitled to refunds because banks and other financial institutions had wrongfully withheld significant amounts of income taxes from them.
In truth, neither the clients’ income nor any taxes were paid to or withheld by the financial institutions. The IRS paid out more than $15 million in false refunds to scheme participants as a result of the fraudulent forms that Febres produced.
By falsely claiming that all of the returns were “self-prepared,” when in fact she had created them, Febres hid her involvement in the plan.
Febres acknowledged that the prices her co-conspirators charged clients to take part in the scam ranged from $10,000 to $15,000.
For each tax return Febres prepared, she normally earned a percentage of the price, usually $500 per client.
The income Febres received in exchange for creating these fake tax returns was not disclosed on her 2014 or 2015 income tax filings. Additionally, she made false business loss claims on her personal tax forms.
Iran Backstrom, the fraud scheme’s primary promoter, received a sentence of more than eight years in prison in March. Backstrom’s deputy, Mehef Bey, received a term of 11 years in prison.
Aaron Aqueron was given a sentence of more than four years in prison in April for soliciting clients and giving information to Febres to be used in the creation of false tax returns.
“Today’s sentence represents the culmination of years of work by the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and IRS-Criminal Investigation,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg. “The main promoters of this multimillion-dollar tax fraud conspiracy now has been identified, convicted and sentenced to a substantial prison term. The message to other would-be tax cheats is clear: no matter how sophisticated or complicated your scheme, we will uncover it, obtain your conviction and seek sentences that hold you fully responsible for your criminal conduct.”
“I am proud of the investigators and prosecutors who worked diligently to unravel this complex financial scheme and recover millions of dollars on behalf of American taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. “Today’s sentence, along with those previously imposed upon the co-conspirators in this case, shows that those who willfully violate our national’s tax laws should expect to face significant consequences for their crimes.”
“Plain and simple, you can’t defraud the U.S. government and not face repercussions for your crimes,” said Special Agent in Charge Brian Payne of the IRS-Criminal Investigation Tampa Field Office. “Our investigation revealed that Febres not only misrepresented the refunds her clients were entitled to on their tax returns, but she also attempted to conceal her role in the criminal activity by failing to list herself as the tax preparer. Her actions landed her in federal prison with a hefty restitution amount due to the IRS.”
The district judge also mandated that Febres spend two years of supervised release after his sentence and pay the IRS $11,140,842.65 in restitution.
Criminal Investigation at IRS investigated into the case.
The prosecution team included Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt for the Middle District of Florida and trial attorneys Melissa S. Siskind, Kavitha Bondada, and Isaiah Boyd III from the Tax Division.