Owner of former D.C.-area tax preparation business sentenced for tax scheme

Date: April 16, 2024

Contact: [email protected]

An Indiana woman was sentenced today to 21 months in prison for conspiring to file false tax returns, wire fraud and tax evasion.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Awett Tedla, now of Indianapolis, was the owner and operator of Speedy Tax Services LLC in Washington, D.C., and District Heights, Maryland. From 2012 through 2016, Tedla and her co-conspirators prepared and electronically filed false income tax returns for clients that reported fictitious businesses and claimed certain tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit, to generate inflated tax refunds. Tedla and her co-conspirators charged their clients different fees that depended on the size of the fraudulent refund.

In 2016, Tedla also filed a false tax return for herself that underreported gross receipts from her business and taxable income.

From 2012 through 2016, Tedla caused a tax loss to the IRS of approximately $171,534.

In addition to her prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols for the District of Columbia ordered Tedla to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $171,534 in restitution to the United States.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Mark McDonald and George Meggali of the Tax Division prosecuted the case.