Woman faces up to five years in prison for filing false tax returns for Richland deputies

A former Richland County Sheriff’s Department employee is facing up to five years in prison after she pleaded guilty to preparing fraudulent tax returns for deputies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbia.

U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said 40-year-old Maribel Crespo, of Columbia, pleaded guilty to presenting false claims to the United States after she filed false tax returns for her former colleagues.

Investigators told a judge Crespo added false and fictitious information on the returns, Nettles said. Crespo, in part, attached non-dependent children’s information to the tax returns of non-citizen Hispanics to inflate the amount of a tax return.

Crespo shorted the IRS $327,963 in losses, Nettles’ office said. Sentencing in the case has not yet been scheduled, but Nettles said Crespo faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Harrison Cahill

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Woman faces up to five years in prison for filing false tax returns for Richland deputies."