Montgomery Woman is Sentenced for Fraudulent Tax Returns

On Wednesday, October 26, 2016, Nicole Coleman, 34, of Montgomery, Alabama was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge W. Keith Watkins to 36 months in prison.  Coleman’s sentence came after she pled guilty to making false statements in a federal income tax return.

Coleman previously was the owner and operator of Community Tax Associates, LLC—a Montgomery income tax return preparation business.  Through that business, Coleman filed federal income tax returns for herself and clients.  When she filed those returns, she made knowingly false entries intending to drive up the amount of refunds the filer would receive.  Coleman then took a portion of all refunds as a fee.  Between 2014 and 2015, Coleman obtained an estimated $1,654,781.03 in fraudulent refunds from the United States.

“By filing these fraudulent tax returns, the defendant stole taxpayers’ hard earned money,” stated United States Attorney George L. Beck, Jr.  “In doing so, she harmed her clients, who trusted her to prepare and file their income tax returns, as well as all citizens who honestly filed their income tax returns.  I am proud of the Internal Revenue Service’s and this office’s efforts to stamp out tax fraud like this.”

The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations Division investigated the case.  Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan S. Ross prosecuted the case.