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A former tax preparer based on Long Island pleaded guilty in federal court in Central Islip on Wednesday to a nearly $12 million tax fraud scheme.
Damaris Beltre, who had operated a tax preparation service in Freeport, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said.
The U.S. Attorney said that Beltre had prepared false individual tax returns that caused a total of about $12 million in losses to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Payroll Protection Program (PPP).
“Beltre brazenly defrauded the government and callously put her clients in jeopardy to line her own pockets,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr., said in a news release about the guilty plea.
“Today’s guilty plea should serve as a warning to anyone who, like this defendant, views federal programs and the federal treasury as their own personal piggybanks, that you will be arrested and vigorously prosecuted,” he added.
“Beltre was a shady tax preparer with a complete disregard for U.S. law or the American public she failed when she fraudulently claimed tens of millions of dollars in COVID19-related tax credits,” Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation New York Special Agent in Charge Harry Chavis said in the news release. “She hoarded funds meant for those with a legitimate need just to fatten her own pockets. With today’s plea, she can move forward with facing the full consequences of her actions.”
Officials said that from January 2021 to April 2024, Beltre owned and operated multiple Freeport-based financial service businesses and personally prepared or supervised the preparation of false individual income tax returns and related forms submitted to the IRS. In those filings, Beltre claimed tens of millions in COVID-19 and motor fuel tax credits to generate improper refunds. Clients paid more than $1 million in fees for these services, often a percentage of the refunds. In April 2023, an undercover federal agent hired Beltre, who filed a return claiming a $14,243 refund instead of the $205 actually owed, charging $2,200, officials said. This years-long scheme led the IRS to issue nearly $11 million in improper refunds and lose additional tax revenue.
And officials said that separately, Beltre was involved in a PPP fraud scheme. They said that from April 2020 to July 2022, Beltre filed false payroll reports and tax returns for her corporate clients in order to fraudulently obtain about $1 million in PPP loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. She used the proceeds, along with funds from the tax-preparer fraud scheme, for personal expenses, including debts, a Caribbean home, a car and jewelry.
When sentenced, Beltre faces a maximum sentence of 53 years’ imprisonment, as well as restitution of approximately $12 million.
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Adina Genn
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