Utah Resident Convicted of Filing False Claims for Tax Refunds
Totaling More Than $2.2 Million
April J. Rampton, 41, formerly of Heber City, Utah, was convicted on December 17, 2012, in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City of nine counts of filing false claims for income tax refunds, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Rampton, who was indicted on Sept. 14, 2011, was released following the verdict. She is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Feb. 27, 2013. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on six similar counts.
According to the indictment and the proof at trial, Rampton prepared at least nine false claims for tax refunds on behalf of others. The total amount of false tax refunds claimed for the counts of conviction was more than $2.2 million.
The evidence at trial further established that Rampton used false IRS Forms 1099-OID with fictitious amounts of income and withholdings as the basis for the false claims for tax refund.
For each false claim conviction, Rampton faces a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the offense.
Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, commended the special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation who investigated the case, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Michael Romano and Stuart Wexler, who prosecuted the case.
Bogus refund claims based on false Forms 1099-OID is one of the IRS’s “ Dirty Dozen” tax scams for 2012.
Source: Dept. of Justice
According to the indictment and the proof at trial, Rampton prepared at least nine false claims for tax refunds on behalf of others. The total amount of false tax refunds claimed for the counts of conviction was more than $2.2 million.
The evidence at trial further established that Rampton used false IRS Forms 1099-OID with fictitious amounts of income and withholdings as the basis for the false claims for tax refund.
For each false claim conviction, Rampton faces a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the offense.
Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, commended the special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation who investigated the case, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Michael Romano and Stuart Wexler, who prosecuted the case.
Bogus refund claims based on false Forms 1099-OID is one of the IRS’s “ Dirty Dozen” tax scams for 2012.
Source: Dept. of Justice