A Smyrna resident has been sentenced for presenting false claims for refunds to the Internal Revenue Service over the course of three-and-a-half years, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Tamar Lee, 53, was sentenced to four years, three months in prison. She was also ordered to pay restitution of more than $300,000.
Co-conspirators Jeffrey Smith and Don Terry were also sentenced. Smith was sentenced to three years, one month in prison. Smith has been ordered to pay restitution of over $690,000. Terry was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of over $1.3 million. All three were additionally sentenced to three years of supervised release following their release from prison.
The tax fraud scheme resulted in false claims for refunds in excess of $2 million. The IRS consequently paid more than $1 million in refunds for fraudulently filed corporate and individual income tax returns.
“The defendants stole the personal identifying information of innocent victims, netting more than $1 million in fraudulent refunds,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine.
Lee and Terry obtained names and personal identifying information for individuals without their knowledge and consent. Many of the victims lived outside of Georgia, with some residing in shelters or prison at the time the tax returns were filed, according to Erskine, the U.S. attorney for the Atlanta-based Northern District of Georgia.
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