Charlotte tax preparer Jessica Truesdale, 49, was sentenced to 20 months in prison on July 18, 2023 for preparing and filing false tax returns. Jessica owned a tax preparation business identified as Queen City Financial Company in Charlotte, NC.
Queen City Financial Company had three locations in the Charlotte area. Between 2014 and 2017, Jessica prepared and filed fraudulent tax returns on behalf of her clients and earned at least $1 million in return preparation fees, which were paid directly from her clients’ refunds. Jessica used several methods to falsify clients’ tax returns, including claiming false filing status and exemptions, American Opportunity credits, education credits, and earned income tax credits, among others.
As a result of the false information contained in the fraudulent returns, Jessica’s clients reduced their tax liabilities and received fraudulently inflated tax refunds.
To further conceal the fraud, Jessica regularly failed to review the completed tax returns with clients, except to inform them the amounts of their refunds. As a result, some clients received correspondence from the IRS or the State of North Carolina questioning items on their tax returns.
Jessica was arrested in March 2021. On Feb. 17, 2022, Jessica pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting in the preparation of a false tax return.
As mentioned, the judge sentenced Jessica to 20 months in prison, she was also ordered to serve one year of supervised release after completing her prison term and to pay $1,177,615 in restitution.
Jessica will be ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
