Florida woman arrested for filing false tax refund claims

Date: April 15, 2024

Contact: [email protected]

MIAMI - On April 12, a Florida woman was arrested today on an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on April 4 in Miami that charged her with filing false tax returns.

According to the indictment, from 2017 through 2021, Yolanda Dewar, of Sunrise, allegedly filed four false tax returns on behalf of a trust to obtain refunds the trust was not entitled to receive. Specifically, Dewar allegedly filed returns falsely reporting that the trust earned significant income, made payments to the IRS, and had federal taxes withheld on its behalf. In addition, Dewar allegedly falsely claimed that these payments to the IRS were more than the tax the trust otherwise owed, thereby entitling it to large refunds. Dewar allegedly continued this conduct even after the IRS notified her that her claims were frivolous. Dewar allegedly sought refunds totaling over $1.9 million, of which the IRS paid approximately $500,000. Dewar allegedly used some of the fraudulently obtained proceeds to purchase a car for a family member, get plastic surgery and renovate her home.

Dewar is charged with four counts of filing false tax returns. If convicted, she faces three years in prison for each count. She also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of the IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

CI Miami is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Deric Zacca and Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind and Kavitha Bondada of the Justice Department's Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.