Feds charge six with income tax fraud
Federal prosecutors announced income tax fraud charges against six people Tuesday, as well a guilty plea in a seventh case.
The defendants include at least two Chicago-area tax preparers who falsified income tax returns, resulting in thousands of dollars in fraudulent refunds, as well as several individuals who are accused of filing false returns on their own behalf, authorities said.
The charges come just days before the national income tax return filing deadline of April 17. Tax preparers Anna Platos, 58, of Hickory Hills and Irving Brown Sr., 69, of Chicago are accused of falsifying income tax records for their clients and obstructing an IRS investigation.
John Ocwieja, 49, of Chicago is accused of failing to file individual tax returns for six years from 2011 to 2016. Michael Cielak, 54, of Chicago is accused of filing false business tax returns that underreported the amount of revenue his scrap metal business earned.
Barry Poticha, 73, of Northbrook is accused of impeding an IRS investigation by filing fraudulent business tax returns for two companies he worked for over the course of a decade.
Latasha Moss, 30, of Cicero is accused of filing income tax returns in other peoples' names and pocketing the refunds.
Tara D. Smith, a North Carolina woman, has pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return that underreported her income "substantially," prosecutors said. She is slated for sentencing in July. All defendants face prison time as well as repayment of all taxes and interest due to the government.