EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A woman from Canyon Lake was sentenced in a federal court in El Paso to two years in prison for aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, according to the United States Attorney’s Office from the Western District of Texas.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Dawn Marie Munoz, 54, operated a tax preparation business, filing IRS forms for an organization and several of its members.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Munoz underreported her clients’ income paid as stipends from the organization when preparing and submitting joint IRS Form 1040 individual income tax returns for her clients.
Munoz was arrested on April 12, 2022, and pleaded guilty on May 10, 2023 to one count of a 16-count indictment.
In addition to her imprisonment, Munoz was also ordered to pay $227,197.65 to four victims.
“Munoz was an experienced tax preparer who engaged in fraudulent business practices and took advantage of the longtime clients who trusted her,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “This investigation by our law enforcement partners at FBI El Paso and IRS Criminal Investigation, along with the punishment delivered by the judge, shows that anyone who tries to undermine our tax system risks prosecution with serious penalties.”
“Munoz lied and stole from her clients in ways that should make everyone question and double check every aspect of their tax returns this year. She prepared fraudulent returns for clients, convinced them to write checks to pay money to the IRS that they didn’t owe, stole the money, and filed false returns herself to cover her tracks,” said Special Agent in Charge Ramsey E. Covington of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Houston Field Office. “This level of deceit, on the part of Munoz, may likely reverberate far beyond West Texas.”
The FBI and the IRS CI investigated the case.
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