Franklin woman pleads guilty in fraud of more than $370,000

A Franklin woman pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of fraudulent income tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service, impeding the due administration of the Internal Revenue laws and wire fraud in a case involving a fraud of $378,954, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Vickie McNabb, 54, of Franklin, pleaded guilty to the charges last Friday, according to a press release issued Tuesday.

“The conduct detailed in this case is egregious and exposed the defendant for who she really is, a thief,” said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office, in the press release. “McNabb not only defrauded the IRS and stole from her employers, she caused significant financial harm to her clients, as well as her employers.”

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According to court records, the case was referred for a pre-sentence investigation, and McNabb is scheduled for sentencing on April 19 at 1 p.m. in federal court in Dayton.

According to the press release, court documents show that between January 2009 and January 2017, McNabb worked as an income tax return preparer or bookkeeper in the Dayton area.

She filed fraudulent income tax returns for “many of her clients without their knowledge and she embezzled money from two employers, International Display Systems, Inc. and Bill Dailey Stables.”

She prepared income tax returns for taxpayers that included Forms 8888 in order to steal part of the income tax refunds owed to the taxpayers and prepared income tax returns for taxpayers and provided them with copies, which showed their anticipated income tax refund, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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But nearly 50 times, McNabb filed different income tax returns with the IRS that contained increased expenses, additional tax credits and additional schedules in order to inflate the amount of the income tax refunds, according to prosecutors.

The forms 8888 were used to divert the false income tax refunds into a bank account that she controlled. In those instances, the taxpayers received their anticipated income tax refunds and McNabb received the difference.

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McNabb also failed to list herself as the income tax return preparer on the filed income tax returns, as required, making it appear as if every income tax return was actually prepared by the taxpayer.

McNabb also interfered with the due administration of the IRS by stealing payments provided to her by a taxpayer that she was supposed to turn over to the IRS in order to pay the taxpayer’s income tax liabilities.

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