YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool yesterday sentenced one of the co-conspirators in a $718,000 tax fraud scheme.
Nancy Walker, 56, was sentenced to seven years and eight months in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay $317,498 in restitution, according to a news release from the office of Timothy Garrison, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Walker is the second to be sentenced in the conspiracy. Co-conspirator Carolyn Cobb was sentenced in January to six years and five months in prison with a restitution order of $215,184. Clementine Lockett, who pleaded guilty to two counts of presenting a false claim, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 22.
Walker previously pleaded guilty to one count of presenting a false claim, one count of theft of government property and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to the release.
The conspiracy by Walker, Cobb and Lockett took place between January 2010 and April 2013. The co-conspirators used the identification of individuals, including their own names and Social Security numbers, to prepare and electronically file fraudulent federal income tax returns via Turbo Tax. The returns listed employers who did not actually employ the individuals listed on the returns, reported wages that were not earned and showed employment taxes that had not been withheld.
While the co-conspirators requested $718,927 through the false claims, they received $317,498 in refunds, according to the release.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Clark and was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
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