A woman from Spartanburg has become the latest person to plead guilty to falsifying federal income tax returns.
United States Attorney William Nettles announced that Lisa Mendoza, 44, pled guilty in U.S. Federal Court Wednesday for her role in a multi-million dollar IRS fraud case.
In a prepared statement, Nettles said that authorities uncovered that Seguros Internationales, a tax preparation business operating in Spartanburg and Forest City, North Carolina, along with affiliated individuals, filed over 10,000 false Federal Income Tax Returns claiming between $20-30 million in refunds during a four year period. He said that it appears that in excess of $10 million in fraudulent refunds were paid out and the refunds were the result of the preparers knowingly claiming false deductions or credits to which they were not entitled. He said that the falsities took many variations with a primary one being to claim credit for child care to which the filers were not entitled. Assistant United States Attorney David Stephens told the court that Mendoza owned Seguros Internationales and she had agreed to make $1 million restitution for her role in the offense.
"This credit is one in which a person can obtain a 'refund' even if no taxes have even been paid," Nettles said. Nettles further praised the investigation and prosecution, by stating that the case was one of the largest tax fraud cases ever handled in South Carolina.
Mendoza becomes the 17th person convicted in relation to the case. She will be sentenced at a later date, according to Nettles and faces a five year prison sentence and/or a $250,000 fine.
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