LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas woman pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns after using her clients’ personal information to get a larger refund on her tax returns, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Maria Magdalena Mendoza, 51, pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false income tax returns, court documents showed.
According to court documents, Mendoza worked as a tax preparer and owned tax preparation businesses “Taxes & More” and “Taxs y Mas” from at least 2007 to 2017.
She used false or inflated deductions and credits on tax returns filed on behalf of her clients, court documents said. She also used her clients’ personal identifying information to get a larger refund on her own tax returns.
Mendoza prepared more than 700 tax returns, claimed more than $3 million in refunds from the IRS, and caused more than $1.2 million in tax loss, court documents said.
Mendoza’s sentencing is scheduled for May 18, 2023.
