An Odessa tax preparer pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Thursday to committing $7.9 million in tax fraud.
According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release, Rita Elia Sanchez, 45, owned and operated Rita’s Tax Service from her home between 2016 and 2018 she “willfully and knowingly” helped prepare false Forms 1040 on behalf of her clients.
Sanchez led her clients to believe she knew how to maximum their deductions and tax refunds, but she inflated and sometimes fabricated items on their tax returns without their knowledge, the release stated.
Sanchez pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false tax return and is facing up to three years in prison on each count and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.
She’s agreed to pay the IRS $7,953,546.81 in restitution and she’ll be prohibited from preparing or filing any federal tax returns but her own in the future, the release stated.
No sentencing date has been set yet.
