Crime and Taxes

Just finished and filed my taxes. After hours of getting all the information in accurately, we ended up owing and paying more this year even though we earned less, which is always a real pleasure.

Meanwhile in Detroit, a couple Detroiters are caught doing some crime with taxes.

The Detroit Free Press: Detroit mom, son get prison for filing false tax returns

A mother and son were sentenced to federal prison Thursday for bilking the government of more than $1 million by filing hundreds of false tax returns, including some for dead people.

Valerie Butler, 48, of Detroit was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Her son Garry Young Jr., 25, also of Detroit, was sentenced to serve a year and a day.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn also ordered them to pay nearly $1.1 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Butler and Young pleaded guilty in November to one count of conspiracy to obtain payment of a claim against the U.S. government.

According to court records, the scam started in 2009 when Butler and Young conspired to file 299 false returns that generated refunds of more than $1 million, which they deposited into bank accounts they controlled. Butler and Young tried to hide their involvement by failing to sign the returns as preparers.

No records as to whether they also voted for the dead people as well as filing their taxes.

That they only got eighteen months and 366 days respectively for bilking the government of over a million dollars, not to mention impersonating taxpayers while doing so means they got off rather lightly.