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NYC Hospital Dietician Indicted For $250,000 Tax Fraud Scam

NYC Hospital Dietician Indicted For $250,000 Tax Fraud Scam

A New York City hospital dietician has been indicted for a $250,000 tax fraud scam on multiple charges, including filing false tax returns, obstructing the IRS, and willful failure to file tax returns.

The United States Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs shared an official release regarding the situation, including the following details:

According to the indictment, Ehrenfriede Kauapirura, of Brooklyn, filed a false 2015 amended tax return and a false 2016 tax return. On both returns, Kauapirura allegedly reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in fictitious tax withholdings, which purportedly entitled her to refunds of approximately $250,000 for each year. After allegedly determining that Kauapirura’s claims were fraudulent, the IRS began a collections proceeding to recoup the refunds paid out to Kauapirura. To thwart the IRS’s collection efforts, Kauapirura allegedly transferred money from her personal bank account to a bank account owned by a trust that she controlled. Kauapirura also allegedly submitted a bogus $1 million check drawn on a non-existent bank as payment of her tax obligations. In addition, Kauapirura allegedly did not timely file individual tax returns with the IRS for the years 2017 through 2020.

Should Kauapirura be convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of three years imprisonment for each count of filing false tax returns, three years imprisonment for obstructing the IRS, and one year imprisonment for each of the four counts of willful failure to file a tax return. 

It is unknown if these sentences would be served consecutively or concurrently at this time.

This case is currently under investigation by the IRS-Criminal Investigation division. A trial date has not been announced at this time. 

Details regarding the tax evasion case were announced by acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York, and Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins Sarah of IRS-Criminal Investigation.

What do you think about this elaborate tax fraud scam?

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Rebekah Barton

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