A Liberty woman has been sentenced to federal prison for illegally preparing a tax return in the Eastern District of Texas. Teletshia Elice Randolph, 48, pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone on April 15, 2024.
According to information presented in court, Randolph was operating an illegal tax preparation business from her residence. She did not have a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) and was suspected of being a "ghost preparer." Randolph would create fraudulent tax documents for clients, indicating false deductions for farm equipment and animals. She filed these documents in a way that appeared they were prepared by the actual tax filer. Randolph kept approximately fifteen percent of each fraudulent tax return. IRS records revealed she filed a total of 542 tax returns on behalf of 282 taxpayers for tax years 2016, 2017, and 2018, resulting in an estimated total tax loss of nearly six million dollars.
U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs stated, "Teletshia Randolph did just that, by defrauding the government for many years and fraudulently filed taxes for taxpayers for her own benefit. My office is committed to protecting the integrity of the tax filing process and bringing to justice those that manipulate it to their advantage."
Special Agent in Charge Ramsey E. Covington of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Houston Field Office commented, "Randolph is a ghost preparer, someone who is willing to take your money and let you go to prison for filing a fraudulent tax return."
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell James.
