Jury Convicts Pastor of Filing False Tax Returns

BOSTON – A Worcester tax preparer was found guilty today by a federal jury of filing false tax returns with the IRS, following a four-day trial in U.S. District Court in Worcester.

Nydia Elicier, 56, owner of Cox Elicier Tax, was found guilty by a federal jury of four counts of aiding or assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.  U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Hillman scheduled sentencing for July 13, 2015.  .

In 2008, Elicier, who also served as a pastor in a Worcester congregation, inflated client refunds by falsifying deductions in filings with the IRS.  Specifically, Elicier generated illegal refunds for clients by claiming deductions typically reserved for educators, false gifts to charity, overinflated medical expenses, and fraudulent unreimbursed employee expenses.

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than three years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $100,000 fine.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordi de Llano of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.