A Biloxi woman has been sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison for knowingly making a materially false statement on a tax return.
According to documents and information provided to the court, 37-year-old Gena Michelle Hall worked at a tax return preparation business in the Gulfport area, known as Tax Pros.
Between 2015 and 2019, Hall prepared federal income tax returns for clients that contained one or more materially false entries. Hall allegedly knew that these tax returns were false at the time she prepared them.
The materially false entries caused the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to issue inflated income tax refunds to her clients.
Further, the former tax return employee also knowingly filed false income tax returns for herself as a taxpayer. In 2017, she received about $49,000 in tax preparation fees by cashier’s checks and transfers from Tax Pros’ bank account, yet reported none of the fees as income.
In addition to her prison sentence, Hall was ordered to pay $231,636.67 in restitution to the United States.
“Today’s sentencing of Gena Michelle Hall emphasizes that IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s office will continue pursuing and prosecuting tax preparers who knowingly and willfully assist others in defrauding the U.S. Government by submitting fraudulent tax returns,” James E. Dorsey, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office said. “Tax professionals are in positions of trust and expected to follow the laws when preparing their own and clients tax returns.”
The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris.
