Former Racine Area Person Indicted for Filing False Tax Returns

United States Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad announced that on January 10, 2017, a federal grand jury in Milwaukee returned an indictment against Tomeki L. Tyson (age 45), now of North Las Vegas, Nevada, and formerly of Racine, Wisconsin. Tyson is charged with twenty-one counts of making a false claim against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by filing false federal income tax returns which claimed refunds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 287.

The indictment alleges that during the period from approximately January 2009 until February 2015, the defendant defrauded and stole money from the IRS through filing fraudulent tax returns containing false employment, income, and tax withholding information, which claimed tax refunds in the names of various actual persons. The indictment further charges that the defendant filed more than 250 such false refund claims with the IRS over this period.

Each of the twenty-one false claim charges contained in the indictment carries a maximum possible penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, or both.

“IRS Criminal investigation is committed to rigorously pursuing thieves who steal from American taxpayers,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Shea Jones of the St. Paul Field Office. “Today’s indictment should serve as a warning to thieves that we, along with our law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney's Office, will pursue those criminals and bring them to justice.”

This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Division, and has been assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Stephen A. Ingraham for prosecution.

The public is cautioned that an indictment is merely the formal method of presenting charges in federal court and does not constitute evidence of the defendant’s guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent until such time, if ever, as the government establishes her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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