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Justice Department Indicts Brooklyn Dietician for Tax Refund Scheme

The U.S. Justice Department has announced the indictment and arrest of Ehrenfriede Kauapirura, a Brooklyn, New York dietician. She is charged with multiple counts of filing false tax returns, obstructing the Internal Revenue Service, and willful failure to file a tax return.

Charges Include Fraudulent Refund Claims, Obstruction, and Failure to File Tax Multiple Returns

According to a press release issued by the United States Department of Justice, in 2015 Kauapirura filed a false amended tax return on which she reported roughly hundreds of thousands of dollars in fictitious tax withholdings that she claimed entitled her to roughly a quarter million dollars in tax refunds. She successfully pursued the same strategy the following year on her official 2016 return.

Following the dispersal of approximately $500,000 in refunds, the IRS reviewed her claims and, upon determining that they were fraudulent, attempted to have her return the funds that she had wrongfully received. According to the Department of Justice, her initial response to their collections effort was to transfer the funds from her personal bank account into a trust over which she had control. She also wrote and submitted a check for $1 million to the agency in payment for her tax debt: the check later proved to have been written from an account from a non-existent bank.

Non-Payment of Taxes Added to Tax Refund Fraud Charges

In addition to her fraudulent tax refund scheme and her actions to evade justice, Kauapirura also failed to file any tax returns at all for tax years 2017 through 2020. According to TaxBuzz, the charges against her could easily add up to multiple years in jail, as the charge for failure to file a tax return is one year for each of the returns she did not file, plus an additional three years for the obstruction charge and three years for each of the false tax returns that she filed. No trial date has been set at this time. Multiple agencies are involved in the tax evasion case, which was revealed by acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York, and Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins Sarah of IRS-Criminal Investigation.

Taxes can be challenging. If you need assistance with preparing your tax returns, preparing an amended tax return, or with any other tax-related questions, contact us today to set up a time for us to talk.

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Frequently Asked Questions

You can prepare your taxes yourself, especially if your business is simple.

But once you have contractors, employees, business loans, equipment purchases, mileage, mixed expenses, or growing revenue, things get more complex. At that point, tax preparation becomes a way to make sure your business is reported correctly, your deductions are handled properly, and your records can support what you file.

Send anything that shows what your business earned, spent, bought, paid, borrowed, or changed during the year.

That usually means your income records, bank statements, credit card statements, payroll reports, contractor payments, loan documents, mileage records, and prior-year tax return. Also tell me about anything unusual, such as buying a vehicle, hiring someone, opening a new location, or taking out a business loan.

Messy books can slow things down. If expenses are in the wrong categories, transactions are missing, or personal and business spending are mixed together, your tax return may not show the right profit. We may need to clean things up before filing, so your return is accurate and easier to support.

Possibly, if it was truly for your business and you have proof.

Still, it is much better to avoid this when you can. A separate business bank account and business credit card make everything cleaner. They save time, reduce confusion, and make your records much easier to defend if anyone ever asks questions.

Most small business owners can deduct ordinary business expenses like software, advertising, supplies, insurance, rent, payroll, contractor payments, professional fees, travel, and some vehicle costs.

The question I usually ask is simple. Was this expense clearly for the business? If yes, we can look at how it should be handled. Personal expenses should stay personal.

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