United States of America v. Natasha Sheree Banks-Brown

San Antonio, Texas, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with filing false tax returns.

Natasha Sheree Banks-Brown, 45, owned and operated a tax preparation business named “Tasha’s Total Tax Service,” beginning in 2016.

Banks-Brown filed individual tax returns on behalf of her clients which included false and fraudulent deductions and credits which significantly increased their tax refunds. Banks-Brown never quoted a specific price for her services and said that she would take her fee out of the return. As part of her fraudulent scheme, she used tax preparation software that allowed her to designate returns to be deposited into a bank account she controlled. The client would then receive a portion of the return via a transfer from Banks-Brown’s bank account to the client’s account, with Banks-Brown keeping a percentage as her fee. Multiple clients testified at trial that they were unaware of her actions and were never given the opportunity to review the return in detail before signing. Evidence introduced at trial indicated that Banks-Brown filed close to 1,200 tax returns between 2017 and 2021 that resulted in over $8 million dollars of refunds.

The Defendant was found guilty and was sentenced to 53 months in prison.