Alabama Return Preparers Plead Guilty to Identity Theft and Tax Fraud Scheme
The United States Department of Justice announced Yumeitrius Manuel and Margaret Kirksey, both of Montgomery, Ala., pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and aggravated identity theft. The two had been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, false claims and lying to federal agents. According to court documents, Manuel and Kirksey each owned and operated separate tax preparation businesses out of the same physical location in Montgomery. They fraudulently inflated tax refunds by placing false information on their clients’ tax returns. They also filed tax returns in the names and Social Security numbers of individuals who did not know about, and did not authorize, the filing of tax returns on their behalf. Both Manuel and Kirksey admitted that their offenses involved over $1 million in tax loss and more than 50 victims of identity theft.
