Twin Falls CPA Pleads Guilty to Making a False Statement

BOISE – Janet Roe, 56, of Twin Falls, Idaho, pleaded guilty yesterday to making a false statement to the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced.

Roe works as a certified public accountant in Twin Falls.  According to the plea agreement, Roe devised a sham transaction that enabled WDC, an Idaho company with its principal place of business in Twin Falls, to evade over $500,000 in taxes in 2010.  To facilitate the tax evasion, WDC claimed a $1.5 million deduction on its 2010 tax return for “management and consulting expense” that never occurred.  In response to audits by the Idaho State Tax Commission in late 2013, Roe created and submitted a falsified and backdated option agreement as well as falsified corporate shareholder meeting minutes.  In January 2016, Roe was interviewed by special agents of the Internal Revenue Service.  Roe falsely stated that she did not prepare the falsified and backdated option agreement.

A charge of making a false statement is punishable by up to five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a term of supervised release of three years.

Sentencing is set for January 30, 2018, before U.S. District Judge David C. Nye at the federal courthouse in Boise.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigations.