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Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty
July 23, 2011
A former Alabama tax preparer pleaded guilty Friday afternoon to what was described as a systematic schedule to file thousands of false tax returns and defraud the government of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Alice Mobley pleaded guilty to conspiracy, tax perjury, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. She is expected to receive from 8 to 14 years in federal prison according to sentencing guidelines.
She will be sentenced in October under a plea agreement that calls for her to forfeit $593,949, including $309,341 in cash seized during federal raids in March 2010 along with several vehicles.
Mobley was scheduled to plead guilty in federal court two weeks ago but changed her mind before deciding again to make Friday’s guilty plea.
Federal agents raided Mobley’s Preyear’s Tax & Check Cashing, LLC on Ridgely Street in Atmore and other locations in March, 2010. Federal court documents show that FBI and IRS agents seized over $300,000, boxes of tax documents, computers, vehicles and even a stuffed teddy bear when they raided the businesses and Mobley’s Monroeville home.
Mobley’s scheme filed tax returns claiming some $68 million in tax refunds, largely for Earned Income Credit and other tax credits, according to the Department of Justice. Mobley would falsely claim various dependent credits, either charged her clients an extra fee for the using the false dependents or pocketing the extra funds herself.
Mobley also “split” dependents, using the identity of some children on one return to obtain Earned Income Credit, and on other returns to obtain Child Credit and Dependent Care Credits. Mobley’s firm also prepared returns which claimed business tax deductions for business which did not exist and farm tax deductions for clients who did not have farms, the DOJ said.
Overall, prosecutors believe Mobley pocketed somewhere under $1 million from the schemes.
Latina Locke, who worked at the business from 2009 to 2010,was indicted in late June 2011 on one charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States. She pleaded guilty recently and faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
According to court documents, Mobley instructed Locke to create false dependents on tax forms in order to claim exemptions and tax breaks. The plea agreement states Locke would use a Post-it Note and write down the number of dependents the client wanted to purchase and attach it to the tax form. Once in Mobley’s hands, she would add the dependents before filing the form with the IRS, according to the plea deal.
Pictured above: A federal agent enters Preyear’s Tax & Check Cashing, LLC in Atmore March 4, 2010. Pictured inset: Agents search a vehicle at the business. Pictured below: A federal agent and an Atmore Police officer talk to an employee of the business during the raid. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
One Response to “Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty”
Thank you! That’s the least you could have done.