Rocky Mount women plead guilty to $5 million tax conspiracy

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WITN) - Two Rocky Mount women pled guilty Monday to conspiring to defraud the United States by preparing false tax returns for clients and causing them to be filed with the IRS.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Betty Hawkins, 51, and Phyllis Ricks, 63, and their co-conspirators caused more than 1,000 false tax returns to be filed with the IRS that claimed a total of about $5 million in fraudulent refunds.

Federal prosecutors say that according to evidence, from about 2009 through 2018, Hawkins and Ricks conspired with others to file false tax returns for clients of the tax preparation business where they both worked. The returns had fake withholding figures and other fraudulent items that generated fraudulent refunds.

WITN is told that Hawkins and Ricks are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 16th. Both women face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the U.S. and they also face a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

More information about this case can be found here.

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