A South Florida tax preparer has been sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, after pleading guilty to assisting in the preparation of fraudulent tax returns. She must also repay over $20 million in restitution to the IRS.
Beatriz Toledo, 61, owned Immigration and Tax Service Group LLC. Between 2017 and 2021, she knowingly prepared false tax returns for clients, inflating their refunds by including:
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Fraudulent claims for the Residential Energy Credit
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False itemized deductions for state and local sales taxes
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Fake business expenses
These fraudulent filings reduced clients’ taxable income, resulting in inflated tax refunds.
Toledo’s scheme involved submitting around 7,800 fraudulent tax returns, leading to an estimated $20 million in unpaid federal taxes. Her company collected approximately $7.1 million in tax preparation fees, directly deducted from clients’ refunds.
Worsening her case, Toledo violated a permanent injunction issued against her in 2010 by a federal district judge. The government had previously sued to stop her from filing false tax returns, and she had agreed to a legal ban on such activities. Despite this, she continued her fraudulent operations.
U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Emmanuel Gomez of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, announced the sentencing.
The IRS-CI Miami Field Office investigated the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Will J. Rosenzweig handling the prosecution.
