Las Vegas woman pleads guilty to filing false tax claims

By Ian Whitaker

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014 | 11:46 a.m.

A Las Vegas woman pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to four counts of filing false claims with the IRS and faces up to 20 years in prison, Daniel Bogden, U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada, announced today.

Denise J. Vick, 39, fraudulently received $307,231 from the IRS as a result of the false claims she submitted for herself and others, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to a plea agreement, during 2010 and 2011, Vick created and caused to be filed false and fraudulent tax returns for herself and others for the tax years 2009 and 2010.

The returns reported wages, income and other information that was false and caused the IRS to issue tax refunds to Vick and the others to which they were not entitled, officials said. The refunds were issued on debit cards that Vick controlled, officials said.

Vick is scheduled to be sentenced March 5 and faces up to five years prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.

“Tax refund fraud is a growing problem locally and nationally,” Bogden said in a statement. “This type of tax fraudster cheats honest and law abiding taxpayers by defrauding the government and stealing funds that are not rightfully theirs. We will continue working with the IRS in Nevada to identify and prosecute these fraudsters.”