Richland County tax preparer charged with allegedly filing false SC tax returns

A Richland County tax preparer has been charged with multiple counts of fraud after allegedly filing false tax returns.

Brenda Lykes Greene, 67, of Hopkins, was arrested by the S.C. Department of Revenue and charged with 20 counts of willfully making or assisting in false or fraudulent state tax returns, the department of revenue said.

Between 2016 and 2020, Greene, who operated East Columbia Tax Services LLC, allegedly filed fraudulent tax returns for 10 people by underreporting her clients’ total income. The total income was reported as $896,502 but was actually $1,402,747, which shorted the state $36,279, the agency said.

The revenue department said that “none of the taxpayers consented or had knowledge of the fraudulent deductions.”

If Greene is convicted, she faces a maximum sentence for each count of five years in prison and/or a fine of $500, plus the cost of prosecution, according to the revenue department.

She is being held at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County.