A Kansas City, Kan., tax preparer has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for filing false tax returns using the names of prison inmates and others, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Wednesday.
Prayshana Washington, 28, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of preparing false income tax returns and one count of aggravated identity theft.
In her plea, she admitted that from 2012 to 2015 she was in the business of preparing individual income tax returns for clients, who generally paid between $500 and $1,000 for her services. She admitted:
• Filing tax returns for clients containing false claims about dependents, household help income, education credits and American Opportunity Credits.
• Directing the IRS to deposit fraudulent returns onto prepaid debit cards and mail them to addresses she controlled.
• Obtaining names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers for prison inmates and preparing fraudulent income tax returns in their names.
Grissom commended the Internal Revenue Service, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Rask and Matthew Kluge, trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division, for their work on the case.