Myers Indictment
BATON ROUGE TAX RETURN PREPARER INDICTED FOR TAX FRAUD, WIRE FRAUD, AND IDENTITY THEFT
BATON ROUGE – United States Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux, Jr. announced that an indictment was unsealed today charging ANGELA MYERS, 48, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana with eleven counts of filing false claims for tax refunds, five counts of wire fraud, five counts of identity theft, two counts of filing a false income tax return, and criminal forfeiture.
According to the indictment filed against her, MYERS operated Angie’s Tax Service, an income tax preparation business in Baton Rouge. MYERS and others electronically filed eleven false claims for refund with the IRS. She and others also used names and Social Security numbers of other individuals without proper authorization to electronically file false tax returns.
“It is a continuing priority of the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute individuals who seek to defraud the United States using stolen identities,” said United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana Donald J. Cazayoux, Jr. “Those who attempt to cheat the system by victimizing others will be held accountable for their actions.”
“The Justice Department is working closely with the IRS to investigate, prosecute, and punish tax refund crimes committed through the theft of identities,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John A. DiCicco of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “Now, more than ever, we must remain vigilant against the unauthorized use of identification information to defraud the U.S. government.”
“The IRS is aggressively pursuing those who steal others’ identities in order to file false returns,” said Steven Miller, IRS Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement. “Our cooperative work with the U.S. Attorney's Office will help protect taxpayers in Louisiana from being victimized by identity theft. The IRS is taking additional steps this tax season to further prevent, detect and resolve identity theft cases as soon as possible.”
An indictment is merely a formal charge by the grand jury. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a U.S. District Court. The case was investigated by the IRS - Criminal Investigation, and is being prosecuted by trial attorneys Matthew Mueller and Kevin Lombardi of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard L. Bourgeois, Jr.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.usdoj.gov/tax/. Additional information about tax fraud schemes to watch out for may be found on the IRS Criminal Investigation web site.
