Biloxi woman fined nearly $232,000 and sentenced to prison for tax fraud
A Biloxi woman was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for knowingly making a false statement on a federal tax return.
Gena Michelle Hall, 37, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Gulfport, announced U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge James Dorsey of IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office.
Hall also was ordered to pay $231,636.67 in restitution to the United States.
Hall worked at Tax Pros, a tax return business in the Gulfport area. According to court documents, between 2015 and 2019 she prepared federal income tax returns for clients that contained one or more materially false entries.
Hall knew the tax returns were false when she prepared them, prosecutors said, and the Internal Revenue Service issued inflated tax refunds to her clients.
She also knowingly filed false income tax returns for herself, court documents showed. In 2017, she received about $49,000 in tax preparation fees by cashier’s checks and transfers from Tax Pros’ bank account, but failed to report those fees as income.
“Today’s sentencing of Gena Michelle Hall emphasizes that IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s office will continue pursuing and prosecuting tax preparers who knowingly and willfully assist others in defrauding the U.S. Government by submitting fraudulent tax returns,” Dorsey said.
The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris.
