Tax Preparer, Former IRS Employee Sentenced for Tax Fraud

An Oakland resident, former Internal Revenue Service employee and tax return preparer has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for conspiring to file false tax returns, federal prosecutors said today. Valorie Shaw, 38, was sentenced on Friday in U.S. District Court in Oakland and ordered to pay restitution of $309,834.

She was also ordered to surrender on Sept. 18 to begin serving her sentence, prosecutors said. Shaw, who has previously worked as a document transporter for the IRS, was indicted in August on charges including conspiracy to file false claims and pleaded guilty to one count on Jan. 23, 2015, according to prosecutors. Employed as a tax preparer for Kwiktax for three years, Shaw worked with others to file false tax returns in 2011 and 2012 using personal identifying information from Kwiktax clients without their knowledge, according to prosecutors.

During this time she filed tax returns with false wage and tax information and false W-2 information, requesting refunds for no less than $487,248 in 2011 and $495,798 in 2012, prosecutors said.

By Bay City News

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