Las Vegas, NV (KXNT) - A federal grand jury has charged a Las Vegas woman with assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns.
According to the indictment, from 2015 through 2020, Jessica Avras - who owned and operated a tax preparation business - allegedly prepared and filed materially false federal income tax returns for clients that fraudulently reduced their federal income tax liability and/or inflated their tax refunds.
The indictment charges that Avras routinely reported fictitious businesses on her clients’ returns and claimed that those businesses had generated significant losses. She also allegedly fabricated deductions on her clients’ tax returns, including noncash charitable contributions, sales taxes and unreimbursed employee expenses.
Avras is charged with 31 counts of assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns and scheduled for her initial court appearance on Feb. 22. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each count.