Date: March 12, 2025
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, a 42-count indictment was unsealed charging Damaris Beltre, formerly a tax preparer in Freeport, New York, with wire fraud, aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, money laundering and aggravated identity theft, for her role in allegedly preparing hundreds of false individual tax returns that caused a total of approximately $12 million in losses to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), which was designed to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beltre was arrested today and will be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Anne Y. Shields.
John J. Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Harry T. Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York (IRS-CI) announced the arrest and charges.
“As alleged, the defendant’s fraudulent work as a tax preparer and in furtherance of a COVID-19 loan scheme cost the government millions of dollars, all while she generated a stream of illicit revenue for herself that she used to purchase, among other things, a home in the Dominican Republic, a car and jewelry,” stated United States Attorney Durham. “My Office will vigorously prosecute individuals like the defendant who think the United States government is an easy target for financial crimes.”
Mr. Durham also expressed his appreciation to the United States Customs and Border Protection, New York Field Office and the Freeport Police Department for their assistance on the case.
“Beltre is charged with defrauding the government of millions of dollars to fatten her pockets, using stolen identities, fraudulent tax submissions and bogus COVID-19 benefits claims. While she may have been viewed as a respected tax preparer, Beltre did not respect federal law, nor did she care about the victims of her fraud—the American people. This IRS-CI investigation has brought her scheming to an end, and she will now be prosecuted for her actions,” stated IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Chavis.
As set forth in the indictment, Beltre owned and operated three corporate entities, Botanica El Poder De San Miguel (Botanica), L&D Tax & Multi Service Corp. (L&D) and D&L Tax Service (D&L). Beltre was also associated with a fourth company, Apollo Global Improvements LLC (Apollo).
Between approximately January 2021 and April 2024, Beltre engaged in a scheme in which she prepared and caused to be prepared false and fraudulent Forms 1040 and associated schedules and forms for client-taxpayers for submission to the IRS. From approximately January 2021 through December 2023, Beltre was the tax preparer for tax returns prepared by L&D; from January 2024 through April 2024, Beltre was the tax preparer for tax returns prepared by D&L.
In those roles, Beltre engaged in massive tax fraud scheme utilizing false dependents as well as tens of millions of dollars of COVID-19 sick leave credits and fuel tax credits that there was no basis to claim. Clients paid over $1 million for Beltre’s fees for her work preparing the false returns which included a percentage of any refund issued. For example, in one instance, an undercover agent went to Beltre to have his tax return prepared. If prepared accurately, the agent would have owed the IRS approximately $205. Instead, Beltre prepared a return which claimed a refund of over $14,243. Beltre charged the undercover agent $2,200 in fees to prepare the fraudulent tax return. In other instances, Beltre filed tax returns claiming refunds on behalf of former clients without their knowledge. As a result of her fraudulent tax scheme, Beltre submitted false and fraudulent Forms 1040 and associated schedules and forms to the IRS, that resulted in approximately $11 million in reduced tax liabilities.
In a separate PPP fraud scheme, Beltre filed false payroll reports and tax returns with the IRS on behalf of companies to fraudulently obtain PPP loan proceeds totaling approximately $1 million which she used to pay personal expenses. For example, in June 2020, Beltre used approximately $22,500 in fraudulently obtained PPP loan proceeds to make a payment on a house in the Dominican Republic. In May 2021, Beltre used approximately $16,000 in fraudulently obtained PPP funds to pay for the purchase of a Honda CRV. Between November 2021 and February 2022, Beltre and members of her family spent tens of thousands of dollars of fraudulently obtained PPP loan proceeds at jewelry stores, and Beltre withdrew approximately $226,160 of the fraudulently obtained PPP loan proceeds as cash from accounts for Botanica, L&D, Apollo, and various other accounts she controlled.
The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Section. Assistant United States Attorney Charles P. Kelly is in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Samantha Schroeder.
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 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.