Lawrenceville Tax Return Preparer Sentenced for Filing False Returns

A Lawrenceville woman was sentenced Wednesday after filing false tax returns totaling over $600,000 in fraudulent refunds.

Roberta L. Allen, 49, was sentenced to two years and nine months and ordered to pay restitution of $641,421 to the Department of Treasury. In October, Allen pleaded guilty to the charges.

Allen prepared the fraudulent income tax returns while working for Refund Now Tax Services from 2009 until 2010. She claimed falsified capital

losses and taxes paid, leading to her clients receiving unearned tax credits. United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates says Allen also charged her clients high fees for preparing the returns.

IRS Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge, Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot recommends taxpayers use the guidelines on the Internal Revenue Service’s website to pick a preparer. 

“Taxpayers should choose carefully when hiring a tax preparer,” said Hyman-Pillot in a release. “As the old saying goes, ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is’.”