Federal grand jury indicts tax preparer for income tax violations

BEAUMONT, TX – From U.S. Attorney's Office - U.S. Attorney John M. Bales announced today that a 63-year-old Lumberton woman has been indicted on charges of federal income tax violations in the Eastern District of Texas. 

        MARSCHA EVA GRIFFIN was indicted on Dec. 16, 2009, and charged with two counts of making a false personal tax return and 17 counts of preparing false tax returns for others. 

According to the Indictment and information provided by prosecutors, an investigation by the Beaumont office of the Criminal Investigations Division, Internal Revenue Service revealed that Griffin operated a tax preparation service, Griffin & Associates, where she prepared numerous personal income tax returns for clients.  Further investigation revealed that for tax years 2004 and 2005, she is alleged to have deliberately overstated numerous expenses and deductions causing the taxpayers to receive a larger refund or pay less tax than they actually owed.  In addition to inflating expenses and deductions on numerous returns for clients, Griffin is alleged to have also under reported her own personal income from her tax preparation business in 2003 and 2004 which operated in the Beaumont area for many years. 

        If convicted, Griffin faces up to 3 years in federal prison. 

This case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert L. Rawls.  

        A grand jury indictment is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.