14 Months in Prison: Houston 'Ghost Preparer' Jamie Nevid Wallace Sentenced for False Tax Returns, Admitted $244,824 in IRS Losses
HOUSTON — The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced that Jamie Nevid Wallace, a local woman, has been ordered to federal prison for aiding or assisting in the preparation of false tax returns. She pleaded guilty on March 27.
U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett ordered Wallace to serve 14 months in federal prison, to be immediately followed by one year of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court noted Wallace's prior federal fraud conviction in 2003, which should have served as a warning against further criminal conduct. Wallace was permitted to remain on bond and will voluntarily surrender to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
From 2017 to 2023, Wallace owned Donahue Tax Service and operated as a 'ghost preparer' to conceal her involvement in the scheme, making it seem that clients were filing their own returns without assistance. She was required to obtain and use a Preparer Tax Identification Number on any returns she prepared, but instead concealed her role by creating accounts for her clients using tax preparation software, and charged fees for the returns.
Wallace prepared false tax returns that included fraudulent Schedule A deductions and Schedule C business and education credits, which generated refunds her clients should not have received. As part of her plea, she admitted filing a false 2021 income tax return that included $68,453 in false Schedule A deductions, $36,852 in false Schedule C losses for a business that did not exist, and a false education credit showing expenses supposedly paid to a local university. Those false entries resulted in $18,075 in tax loss.
Wallace has admitted responsibility for $244,824 in losses to the IRS and has agreed to pay that amount in restitution. IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Gray prosecuted the case.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部总部大楼（资料图）。美国司法部官方照片，公共领域。 / The U.S. Department of Justice headquarters (file photo). U.S. Department of Justice photo, public domain.
