A Thornton woman pleaded guilty last week in federal court to aiding and assisting in the preparation of 26 false tax returns, costing the government more than $71,000, the Colorado U.S. Attorney’s Office said Monday.
Juanita Sotelo, 64, faces three years in federal prison and a fine up to $100,000 at sentencing in January.
“For tax returns during the years 2007, 2008, and 2009, Sotelo would make changes to draft returns during her reviews or directed her employees to make changes which often included increased charitable contributions, unreimbursed employee expenses, personal property taxes, and other itemized deductions without discussing the changes with the clients,” the office said.
Sotelo operated under J&G Bilingual Services where she was a co-owner and manager of the business.
Sotelo admitted to falsifying itemized deductions, overstating the amount clients paid in personal property taxes and the amounts of their gifts to charities.
“In April 2010, two IRS special agents interviewed Sotelo, who at first claimed that all of the information of the J&G-prepared returns came from the clients and the returns did not contain false entries,” the office said.
When questioned further, Sotelo told investigators she did “fudge” numbers on her clients’ returns.
The IRS Criminal Investigation also assisted in the indictment and prosecution of Sotelo, who was indicted in January 2014.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or
