Three sisters at the center of a tax fraud operation that racked up $3 million in fraudulent returns have been handed prison sentences. The scheme, which operated out of the Rio Grande Valley, involved Maria Lourdes Campos and her sisters Elizabeth Romo and Gloria Romo, who previously pleaded guilty on May 2 to charges related to aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Following their guilty pleas, U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton sentenced Campos to 42 months, Elizabeth Romo was handed a sentence of 36 months, and Gloria Romo was given a supervised release for a year. As part of their penalties, the sisters have been ordered to pay a combined sum of more than $280,000 in restitution. With employees careening down a slippery slope unknowingly at Campos Tax Service, even without explicit direction from the sisters, fraudulent returns became part of the workplace culture and were normalized.
The scale of the operation became evident as U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani underscored the Southern District of Texas's commitment to rooting out financial crimes. "These sentencings stand as a resolute warning – the Southern District of Texas is unwavering in its commitment to eradicating financial crimes that plague the South Texas border," Hamdani said, according to the same press release.
The deceptive enterprise started at Campos Tax Service, led by Maria Campos, where an array of fraudulent tax credits were claimed, leading to inflated tax returns for clients. And without surrendering their liberty yet, all three sisters were permitted to remain on bond until they voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
The IRS Criminal Investigation's Houston Field Office detailed the depth of deception, where acting Special Agent in Charge Lucy Tan remarked,“The Campos and Romo sisters turned their family business into a large-scale tax fraud operation, expanding their scheme across multiple locations to drastically increase the number of fraudulent tax returns submitted to the IRS. Through their actions, they amassed millions of dollars in illegal tax refunds. This is a clear demonstration of criminal intent, driven by greed,” From over 6,500 federal income tax returns filed, more than $5 million of residential energy credits were falsely claimed, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The investigation was led by IRS Criminal Investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric D. Flores and Cahal P. McColgan prosecuting the case.
