Rio Grande Valley tax preparers sent to prison for $3M tax fraud scheme

Date: Sept. 26, 2024

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McAllen, TX - Three local sisters have been sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to aid and assist in the preparation of filing fraudulent tax returns to the IRS, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Maria Lourdes Campos and her sisters Elizabeth Romo and Gloria Romo pleaded guilty May 2.

U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton has now imposed a 42-month term of imprisonment for Campos, while Elizabeth Romo received 36 months and Gloria Romo received a one-year term of supervised release. Campos, Elizabeth Romo and Gloria Romo were ordered to pay $151,741; $119,793; and $9,528 in restitution, respectively. Campos and Elizabeth Romo were also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following their sentences.

At the hearing, the court heard additional testimony that included details about the systemic nature of the tax fraud at Campos Tax Service where employees, without explicit instruction, perpetuated inflated and fraudulent tax returns as part of the business model. Throughout the years that Maria Campos orchestrated this scheme, she enjoyed the financial spoils, including purchasing luxury vehicles and expanding her business to three locations.

"These sentencings stand as a resolute warning - the Southern District of Texas is unwavering in its commitment to eradicating financial crimes that plague the South Texas border," said Hamdani. "To those who think they can exploit or perpetuate financial crimes in the Rio Grande Valley, it's not a matter of if, but when you will face the full force of the Department of Justice. It is our duty and profound obligation to ensure that justice is not just an ideal, but a reality that resonates through every corner of our community."

"The Campos and Romo sisters turned their family business into a large-scale tax fraud operation, expanding their scheme across multiple locations to drastically increase the number of fraudulent tax returns submitted to the IRS. Through their actions, they amassed millions of dollars in illegal tax refunds. This is a clear demonstration of criminal intent, driven by greed," said acting Special Agent in Charge Lucy Tan of IRS Criminal Investigation's (IRS-CI) Houston Field Office. "Their business model was not just about financial gains, but also undermined the public's trust in the integrity of tax preparers, who are relied upon to submit honest and accurate tax returns."

Campos was the owner and operator of Campos Tax Service (CTS) located in the Rio Grande Valley for over 10 years. Employed at Campos Tax Service were Campos's two sisters, Elizabeth Romo and Gloria Romo.

With the sisters' assistance, most CTS clients fraudulently applied for and claimed either residential energy credits, business expenses or childcare credits. CTS employees did this to earn larger tax refunds for its clients. Once CTS employees completed the tax returns, they did not review the completed documents with their clients and only provided them with refund amounts or incomplete documents.

From 2018 to 2020, Campos Tax Service filed approximately 6,501 federal income tax returns which included over $5 million of residential energy credits.

The false and fraudulent filings between Campos, Elizabeth Romo and Gloria Romo resulted in a total sustained tax harm of more than $3.6 million.

All were permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.

IRS-CI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric D. Flores and Cahal P. McColgan prosecuted the case.

IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.

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