Fake income nets tax returns: Woman sentenced for role in widespread fraud

untitled-(23-of-30)A federal judge in Kansas City on Thursday sentenced a Kansas City woman for her role in an elaborate tax return fraud.

Lashan Brown, 41, was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison and ordered to pay $120,172 in restitution.

She pleaded guilty previously for her role in a conspiracy to defraud the government.

Also from a media release by federal prosecutors:

Brown and several co-defendants claimed $433,365 in fraudulent tax refunds from January 2009 to February 2012.

They created false W-2 forms, fake employer information, fictitious income and fake income tax withholdings. Then they got friends and others – who had no legitimate income – to file fake tax returns.

Brown filed from her home computer for 33 fraudulent refunds.

Co-defendant Demichael A. Johnson, 37, of Kansas City, was sentenced to two years for his role in the scheme, to be served consecutively with his seven-year sentence for drug dealing.

Two other co-defendants are awaiting sentencing.

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