IRS Employee Arrested On Indictment For Tax Fraud

FRESNO, Calif. — Yolanda Castro, 45, a Fresno employee of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, was arrested today following her indictment by a federal grand jury on February 26, 2015, on 10 counts of tax fraud and making false statements to a government agency, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to the indictment, Castro has been employed by the IRS for approximately 20 years, including as a tax examiner and contact representative. Between 2007 and 2013, she prepared and filed false federal income tax returns for herself, her family members and others in which she fraudulently claimed tax deductions and credits. For instance, on her own 2008 tax return, Castro claimed a credit for education expenses that she did not incur, and provided the IRS phony textbook receipts to support the claim. Likewise, in tax returns she prepared for herself and others, Castro claimed child care expenses that had not been incurred.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the IRS‑Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Baker and Mark McKeon are prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Castro face a maximum statutory penalty of three years in prison and a $100,000 fine for each of the six counts of aiding in the preparation of a false tax return, five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each of the two counts of making a false return by a U.S. employee, and five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the two counts of making false statements to a government agency. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.