A federal grand jury in Greenbelt, Maryland, returned an indictment, unsealed yesterday, charging a Maryland woman with preparing false tax returns for clients and failing to file her own tax returns.
According to the indictment, Zewdi Tsegay, of Burtonsville, ran a tax preparation business called Taxes R Us LLC, which later changed its named to Taxes 4 You LLC. The indictment alleges that from 2018 through 2024, Tsegay prepared and filed with the IRS false tax returns for clients. These returns allegedly included false business losses that benefited the client by claiming false refunds to which they were not entitled or decreasing their tax liability.
According to the indictment, the IRS conducted an undercover operation at Tsegay’s business in March 2020. Tsegay allegedly initially prepared the undercover agent’s tax return correctly, which reflected that the undercover agent owed taxes, and then added a fictitious business loss to the return, which resulted in the return improperly requesting a refund. The indictment further alleges that from 2021 to 2023, Tsegay was required to file tax returns for herself but did not do so.
If convicted, Tsegay faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each count of filing a false tax return and a maximum penalty of one year in prison for each count of failing to file her own tax returns. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Catriona M. Coppler and Richard Kelley of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.