Crime & Safety
South Suburban Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty To Falsifying Returns: Department Of Justice
She falsified her own personal returns, as well as those of her clients, according to authorities.
ALSIP, IL — A former south suburban tax preparer pleaded guilty Wednesday to filing false returns that resulted in the Internal Revenue Service losing over $500,000, according to authorities.
Erica Early, previously of Robbins and Richton Park, ran a tax preparation business from 2014-19 for clients in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, authorities said, often charging $1,000 to prepare basic returns.
On returns, she inflated clients’ income to maximize the earned income tax credit and falsely claimed education-related credits, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, which also said Early falsified her own personal returns.
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Early is set to be sentenced Oct. 4 and faces up to three years in prison as well as supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties, authorities said.
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