FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Naples tax preparer has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for preparing false income tax returns, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced.
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Heidi Torres-Moncaleano, 45, was also ordered to serve a one-year term of supervised release and pay $429,888 in restitution to the IRS.
Ms. Torres-Moncaleano pleaded guilty in April 2024 to aiding in the preparation of false and fraudulent income tax returns.
According to court documents, Ms. Torres-Moncaleano operated Torres Tax Services from 2018 through 2021, when she submitted fraudulent tax returns and Schedule C forms to the IRS. Prosecutors said she inflated her clients’ personal and business losses to generate larger tax refunds.
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The scheme resulted in an actual tax loss to the IRS of more than $847,000.
“A return preparer who artificially and illegally inflates your tax return is doing you no favors,” said Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Tampa Field Office.
“Their greed and desire to prop up their business could leave you responsible for all that extra money you receive but which you are not entitled to.”
The case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick L. Darcey.
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