Indiana – A years-long tax fraud operation run out of southern Indiana and nearby Louisville has ended with prison sentences for the two preparers at the center of it, after federal prosecutors said the scheme pumped out millions of dollars in refunds built on false information.
Angel De La Rosa, 41, of Jasper, was sentenced to four years in federal prison and will serve two years on supervised release afterward. The court also ordered him to pay $15,005,149.83 in restitution. Yaimy Real, 34, of Louisville, received a three-year federal prison sentence, followed by two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $15,019,543.84 in restitution.
Both had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false tax returns, and filing false personal tax returns.
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Court records showed that De La Rosa and Real operated De La Rosa Multiservices in Jasper, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky. From January 2018 through July 2021, they prepared about 5,892 fraudulent federal returns covering tax years 2017 through 2020. The Internal Revenue Service estimated the tax loss tied to the operation at $10,577,612.
At the heart of the fraud was the repeated misuse of the American Opportunity Tax Credit, a benefit meant for eligible education expenses. Prosecutors said the two preparers routinely filed Form 8863 claiming taxpayers were enrolled at either Sacerdotes Del Sagrado Corazon in Louisville or YMR Language Services LLC in Jasper. Neither business qualified as an eligible educational institution under federal law. By inventing tuition payments and other school-related costs, they were able to inflate refunds for clients who did not qualify for the credit.
When IRS scrutiny intensified, the scheme did not stop. Instead, according to the case, the defendants tried to prop it up with made-up paperwork, including fake enrollment letters and fabricated receipts meant to make the false education claims appear legitimate.
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The fraudulent filings went beyond education credits. Prosecutors said the pair also prepared returns that falsely reported self-employment losses on Schedule C and exaggerated itemized deductions on Schedule A. They further concealed their role by acting as ghost preparers, a tactic that kept their names off the returns even though paid preparers are legally required to sign filings and include a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number.
Authorities said the business generated about $736,500 in fees from clients while the false returns were being filed.
The case also included false personal returns filed by both defendants. De La Rosa’s own returns for tax years 2017 through 2020 caused an additional tax loss of about $6,374, while Real’s false personal returns for 2017 and 2018 caused roughly $4,000 in losses.
U.S. Attorney Tom Wheeler said the fraud drained more than $10 million in public money and was made worse by the submission of fake records during the investigation. IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Adam Jobes said the pair operated in the shadows as ghost preparers, but investigators followed the money trail and exposed the fraud.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young imposed the sentences, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew B. Miller prosecuted the case.
