U.S. Department of Justice Marcos Daniel Jiménez United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
	99 N.E. 4th Street Miami, FL 33132 (305) 961-9001

TAX PREPARER CONVICTED OF FRAUD

Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Brian Wimpling, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, announced today the conviction of defendant Lauda Mojica on eight separate counts of making false claims to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in tax filings which the defendant prepared for her clients. These charges of defrauding the IRS by obtaining the payment of false and fraudulent claims were in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 286 and carry a maximum statutory term of imprisonment of up to ten (10) years, followed by a term of supervised release. In addition to a term of imprisonment and supervised release, the Court may impose a fine of up to $250,000 and may order restitution, carrying maximum penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment for each of the eight counts.

At trial, eight taxpayer witnesses testified that the defendant created false alimony claims on their behalf, thereby lowering their taxable income and fraudulently causing the IRS to issue bigger refunds to several of these taxpayers. The defendant also forged the names of many of these taxpayers without their knowledge. She also used and listed other clients’ social security numbers and names as alimony recipients on several of the tax returns charged.

Mr. Jiménez commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Richard Boscovich and Angel Cortinas.

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