Virginia Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty to Fraud
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Shamila Williams, 29, formerly of Alexandria, Va., pleaded guilty today to aiding in the preparation of a false income tax return.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Rebecca A. Sparkman, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation’s Washington, D.C., Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.
Williams faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison when she is sentenced on April 25, 2011.
In a statement of facts filed with her plea agreement, Williams, who operated Thompkins Tax Services out of various locations in Northern Virginia, admitted to including false deductions, losses, and withholdings in her clients’ income tax returns. Williams profited from the crimes by charging her preparation fee as a percentage of her clients’ inflated tax refunds. Williams caused the United States a total loss of $305,138.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service. Assistant United States Attorney Kosta Stojilkovic is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.
