Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts of Los Angeles, California and the U.S.

January 30, 2007

SACRAMENTO COUPLE INDICTED FOR TAX REFUND SCHEME

SACRAMENTO-- United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today that a federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment, yesterday, charging CHARLENE LEE SAUCIER, 36, and TAVORIS TIMANE SAUCIER, 27, both of Sacramento, with conspiring to file false tax returns claiming fraudulent refunds and filing five false returns.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Criminal Investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Camil A. Skipper, who is prosecuting the case, the indictment alleges that CHARLENE SAUCIER filed false tax returns for tax years 2003 and 2004, and that her husband, TAVORIS SAUCIER, filed a false return for tax year 2004. With regard to all three returns, the indictment alleges that the defendants inflated their incomes in order to fraudulently claim Earned Income Credits (EIC's) and obtain tax refunds. The indictment further alleges that the couple recruited two others to participate in the scheme and that CHARLENE SAUCIER assisted the recruits in filing tax returns with false income figures in order to fraudulently claim EIC's and obtain tax refunds.

The maximum statutory penalty for conspiring to defraud the government with respect to claims is 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The maximum statutory penalty for filing a fraudulent tax return is 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. However, the actual sentence will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables, and any applicable statutory sentencing factors.
Both defendants were arrested this morning and will make their initial appearance in federal court today at 2:00 p.m.

The charges are only allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER

JOSEPH SHEMARIA

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Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts of Los Angeles, California and the U.S.