Naugatuck Tax Preparer Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison: Feds

NAUGATUCK, CT — A Naugatuck woman accused of filing false tax returns for clients of her tax preparation service was sentenced last week to three years in prison, according to court officials.

In a news release, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery announced Ana Nunez, 51, also known as Ana Pagoaga, of Naugatuck, was sentenced Wednesday to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Nunez owned and operated Nunez MultiServices, LLC, a tax return preparation service in Naugatuck, from 2011 to 2016. During that time, Nunez filed approximately 6,000 returns for approximately 2,600 different individual taxpayers, Avery said.

"On numerous tax returns she prepared for clients," Avery said in a news release, "Nunez routinely inflated income or created fictitious income, falsified expenses, including education and childcare expenses, and falsified deductions, such as business mileage."

Nunez was ordered to pay $501,933 in restitution to the IRS and $78,829 to the state, Avery said.

On Dec. 6, 2018, a grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Nunez with multiple counts of filing false tax returns.

According to Avery, Nunez obstructed prosecution by "creating false invoices to clients, which she provided to the government in an apparent attempt to justify additional [money] she took from her clients' refunds," and by attempting to intimidate a potential witness.

Nunez pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return on Jan. 7, 2020. She is required to report to prison in July.