Date: July 18, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Charlotte, NC — A Charlotte tax preparer was sentenced to 20 months in prison today for preparing and filing false tax returns, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Jessica Earlene Truesdale of Charlotte, was also ordered to serve one year of supervised release after completing her prison term and to pay $1,177,615 in restitution. Karen Wingerd, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (CI), Charlotte Field Office, joins U.S. Attorney King in making today's announcement. According to court documents and statements made in court, Truesdale owned and operated Queen City Financial Company, LLC (Queen City Financial), a tax preparation business with three locations in the Charlotte area. Between 2014 and 2017, Truesdale prepared and filed fraudulent tax returns on behalf of her clients and earned at least $1 million in return preparation fees, which were paid directly from her clients' refunds. Court documents show that Truesdale used several methods to falsify clients' tax returns, including claiming false filing status and exemptions, American Opportunity credits, education credits, and earned income tax credits, among others. As a result of the false information contained in the fraudulent returns, Truesdale's clients reduced their tax liabilities and received fraudulently inflated tax refunds. To further conceal the fraud, Truesdale regularly failed to review the completed tax returns with clients, except to inform them the amounts of their refunds. As a result, some clients received correspondence from the IRS or the State of North Carolina questioning items on their tax returns. On February 17, 2022, Truesdale pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting in the preparation of a false tax return. Truesdale will be ordered to report the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. In making today's announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked CI for their investigation of the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.
