April J. Rampton, 41, formerly of
Heber City, Utah, was convicted yesterday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake
City of nine counts of filing false claims for income tax refunds, the Justice
Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Rampton, who was
indicted on Sept. 14, 2011, was released following the verdict. She is
scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Feb. 27,
2013. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on six similar counts.
According to the indictment and the
proof at trial, Rampton prepared at least nine false claims for tax refunds on
behalf of others. The total amount of false tax refunds claimed for the counts
of conviction was more than $2.2 million.
The evidence at trial further
established that Rampton used false IRS Forms 1099-OID with fictitious amounts
of income and withholdings as the basis for the false claims for tax refund.
For each false claim conviction,
Rampton faces a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison and a fine
of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the offense.
Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney
General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, commended the special agents
of IRS Criminal Investigation who investigated the case, and Tax Division Trial
Attorneys Michael Romano and Stuart Wexler, who prosecuted the case.
Bogus refund claims based on false
Forms 1099-OID is one of the IRS’s “Dirty Dozen” tax scams for 2012.
IRS Circular 230 Disclosure
Pursuant to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service Circular 230, we inform you that, to the extent any advice relating to a Federal tax issue is contained in this communication, including in any attachments, it was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding any tax related penalties that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue Code, or (b) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service Circular 230, we inform you that, to the extent any advice relating to a Federal tax issue is contained in this communication, including in any attachments, it was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding any tax related penalties that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue Code, or (b) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication.
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