IRS Employee Found Guilty for Filing Multiple Fraudulent Tax Returns

FRESNO, Calif. — After a four-day trial, a federal jury found Kimberly English, 53, of Fresno, guilty today of two counts of filing a fraudulent tax return by an employee of the United States and four counts of making an opportunity for a person to defraud the United States, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. 

According to evidence presented at trial, English was an employee of the IRS in Fresno when she prepared and filed her own fraudulent tax returns for tax years 2011 and 2012. She also prepared and filed false and fraudulent tax returns for others, including her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend, for the same tax years. The returns identified in court included fraudulent claims for false deductions and credits, such as the number of dependents and eligibility for the child tax credit. The false returns allowed English and other taxpayers to obtain undue tax refunds or improperly reduce their tax liabilities.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Tax Division of the Department of Justice. Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick R. Delahunty and Angela L. Scott are prosecuting the case.

English is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on August 15, 2016. English faces a sentence of up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, and mandatory dismissal from her job. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.