Date: December 2, 2021 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov ST. LOUIS — United States District Court Judge Henry E. Autrey accepted a plea of guilty from Robyn T. Roberts for multiple counts of aggravated identity theft, wire fraud and preparing and submitting false tax returns. A grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri indicted Roberts earlier this year on several counts of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and tax fraud. Roberts pleaded guilty on today's date for two counts of wire fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft and five counts of tax fraud in connection with her work as a tax preparer at Roberts Tax Professionals. Roberts is responsible for causing the overpayment of more than $400,000 in tax refunds by preparing fraudulent tax returns. As part of her scheme, Roberts used stolen social security numbers and fraudulently claimed dependents, education expenses, and business losses on behalf of both herself and other taxpayers. "Tax preparers have a duty to their clients to prepare complete and accurate tax returns that comply with the law," said Special Agent in Charge, Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, St. Louis Field Office. "IRS-CI's efforts to investigate and prosecute tax fraud are critical to overall compliance. Our Special Agents play an important role in protecting not only honest taxpayers from criminal activity, but the nation's revenue as well." Sentencing is set for March 3, 2022. The case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigations.
