Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023 | 6:48 p.m.
A Las Vegas woman who owns two tax businesses pleaded guilty Thursday to filing false tax returns that led to more than $1 million of tax loss, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.
Maria Magdalena Mendoza, 51, pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false income tax returns, the attorney’s office said.
As a tax preparer and owner of “Taxes & More” and “Taxes y Mas” from 2007 to 2017, Mendoza used false or inflated deductions and credits on tax returns filed on behalf of her clients and used their personal identifying information to falsely obtain a larger refund on her own tax returns.
She prepared over 700 tax returns that claimed more than $3 million in refunds from the Internal Revenue Service, causing more than $1.2 million in tax loss.
The IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General’s Office for Tax Administration investigated the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Schmale prosecuting.
Mendoza is scheduled for sentencing May 18.
