Anderson Tax Preparer found Guilty of Fraud

United States Attorney Beth Drake reports that 49-year-old Shirley Carson of Anderson pled guilty as charged to a 20 count indictment charging her with filing false income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. The plea was accepted by United States District Court Judge Bruce H. Hendricks sitting in Greenville. Judge Hendricks will sentence Carson at a later date. The facts presented at the guilty plea established that Carson operated a small business doing income tax returns out of her home in the Anderson area. Carson developed a reputation as being able to obtain significant tax refunds for lower income clients. For tax years 2012 and 2013, Carson prepared the 19 fraudulent returns, which comprise counts 2-20 of the indictment. In these returns, Carson was able to generate large refunds by falsely stating that the taxpayers had dependents who did not exist and medical or mortgage expense which had not been paid. Additionally, as charged in count one of the indictment, Carson filed a false return for herself in which she used counterfeit W-2 forms to make it appear that she had paid taxes through withholdings which she had not, which caused a refund to which she was not entitled. United States Attorney Drake stated that the case was investigated by agents of the Criminal Investigative Division of the Internal Revenue Service and prosecuted by Assistant United State Attorney David C. Stephens of the Greenville Office.