New York Tax Return Preparer Sentenced to Prison for Filing False Tax Returns

A Queens, New York tax return preparer was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison today for filing false tax returns, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

Williesteina Jacobs was convicted in July 2016 by a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. According to documents filed with the court and evidence presented at trial, Jacobs operated International Professional Business Services, a tax preparation business located in South Richmond Hill, New York, and Jamaica, New York. From 2007 through 2010, Jacobs filed false individual income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on behalf of her clients and claimed refunds to which they were not entitled. These tax returns claimed false business losses and reported grossly inflated or fictitious deductions for, among other things, charitable donations.

In addition to the term of prison imposed, Jacobs was also ordered to serve one year of supervised release and to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $31,188.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg commended agents of IRS–Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Yael T. Epstein and Andrew J. Kameros, who prosecuted the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.