Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Charge

ROANOKE, VIRGINIA – A Miami, Florida man, who prepared false tax returns for others without their consent, pled guilty yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today.

Audrey Obin, 36, of Miami, Fla., pled guilty this afternoon to Count One, conspiracy to obtain refunds from the filing of false tax returns.  Two co-conspirators, Agwell Fayette and Darold Daniels are awaiting trial.

According to evidence presented at yesterday’s guilty plea hearing by Assistant United States Attorney C. Patrick Hogeboom III, Obin owed Vision Tax Services, an income tax preparation service located in Florida. Vision Tax Services filed tax returns electronically and Advent Financial processed the refund payments.

On or about June 11, 2012, Obin prepared and filed a Form 1040 for the 2011 tax year for K.L. The returned included K.L.’s name and social security number but the address listed was not hers. K.L. did not file the return or authorize anyone to file the return on her behalf. K.L. said she never spoke to Obin nor provided him with any of the information needed to prepare a tax return. She did, however, provide personal identifiers to Agwel Fayette, who told K.L. the information would be used to assist her in obtaining public assistance.

Obin admitted that he never met K.L. but was provided the personal identifiers by Darold Daniels. Obin charged $700 to prepare the tax return and sent the refund check to Roanoke, Virginia where it was deposited into a bank account controlled by Fayette.

On or about March 22, 2012, a 2011 Form 1040 was prepared and filed by Obin in C.R.’s name. C.R. resided in Roanoke, Virginia, but provided his personal identifiers to Fayette with the understanding that it was for potential employment purposes. Daniels provided the information to Obin, which was used to file a false tax return claiming a refund of $1,782. The refund check, minus $700 for the preparation fee to Obin, was cashed at a convenience store operated by Fayette.

The investigation of the case was conducted by Internal Revenue Service and United States Postal Service.  Assistant United States Attorney C. Patrick Hogeboom III will prosecute the case for the United States.