DC and Maryland Residents in Scheme to File Fraudulent Tax Returns and Obstruct the IRS

The indictment charges Johnny and Maria Moore, from the District of Columbia, along with Charese Johnson, aka Charese Adesalu, from Aberdeen, Maryland, with conspiring to defraud the United States in an effort to obtain fraudulent  refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  The indictment also charges the Moores with aiding and assisting in the preparation of false trust tax returns (Forms 1041), and filing their own false amended personal income tax returns (Forms 1040X) with the IRS.  Additionally, Johnson is charged with aiding and assisting the Moores in preparing their false Forms 1040X. 

To further the scheme, the Moores, together with Johnson and another co-conspirator, allegedly prepared and filed tax returns that claimed either false withholdings or false credits.  Based on those alleged falsities, they requested significant refunds to which they were not entitled.  The Moores allegedly received a refund of over $500,000 for one trust tax return filed for the 2012 tax year.  As charged in the indictment, when the IRS sought to recoup that refund, Johnson conspired with the Moores and others to obstruct the IRS collection efforts.

If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of 5 years for the conspiracy charge, and 3 years for each of the false return charges.  The defendants also face substantial monetary penalties, supervised release, and restitution.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman commended special agents of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, who investigated this case, and Trial Attorneys Abigail Burger Chingos and Jeffrey McLellan of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting this case.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.