Texas Tax Preparer Sentenced to 14 Months in False Tax Return Scheme

A Texas tax return preparer was sentenced on October 7, 2026, to 14 months in prison for conspiring to file false tax returns for clients, the Justice Department said.

According to the department, Sivagami Chidambaram conspired from about February 2020 to October 2022 with a tax preparation business owner and several of his employees to file client returns containing false business expenses. The department said those expenses lowered the taxes clients owed and led to refunds they were not entitled to. It said Chidambaram sometimes added false expenses by asking clients about work-from-home costs she knew could not be claimed, sometimes added them before speaking with clients, and sometimes added them to satisfy clients seeking larger refunds. She admitted to causing a tax loss of more than $250,000 but less than $550,000, the department said.

Chidambaram is the fifth defendant sentenced in the scheme. Business owner Mathews Chacko was previously sentenced to 50 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the IRS. He admitted to a tax loss of more than $3.5 million but less than $9.5 million. Preparers Anish Pillai and Subhala Suresh received 26 and 18 months in prison, and Mou Kundu received 18 months of home confinement, after pleading guilty to aiding and assisting the filing of a false return.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case, according to the department.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/128