Date: May 30, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Keyante Paul, of Florida, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release, for preparing false tax returns for numerous clients. According to court documents and statements made in court, Paul, through her business Keys Tax Services, operated as a tax return preparer, and she traveled to the Norwich, Connecticut area for part of the year to prepare returns for Connecticut clients. For several years, Paul prepared numerous federal tax returns for clients that included false income "adjustments" that reduced taxpayers' reported adjusted gross income or false expenses and losses in connection with sole proprietorship businesses that clients did not operate. Paul's criminal conduct caused losses totaling more than $550,000 to the U.S. Treasury and the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services. Paul was arrested on June 16, 2022. On February 23, 2023, she pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false income tax return. Restitution will be determined after additional court proceedings. This investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer R. Laraia and Lauren C. Clark.
