Shasta County Resident Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Tax Fraud

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Deborah Gwen Orrey, 54, of Anderson, was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison for making and subscribing a false tax return, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Orrey was the owner and operator of Affordable Tax, Bankruptcy, and Bookkeeping. For tax years 2013 to 2016, Orrey submitted tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service that contained incorrect information including, education credits, inflated medical expenses, and other inflated or non-existent business expenses. Orrey owed to the IRS an additional $112,083 for these years. Orrey also willfully falsified information on tax returns that she filed on her clients’ behalf. She split the refunds due to her clients without their knowledge, causing a portion of the clients’ refunds to be deposited to her own bank account. Eight of her clients suffered an actual loss of a total of $3,729. Orrey was ordered to pay $115,362 in restitution, which is the total loss to the IRS.

This case was the product of an investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise N. Yasinow prosecuted the case.