Arvada woman indicted on 50 counts tax fraud By Vikki Migoya The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 03/24/2008 04:16:41 PM MDT
An Arvada woman has been indicted on 50 counts of fraud for posing as an accountant.
A Jefferson County grand jury returned the counts Friday against Denise Smith, 51.
Smith "has not been arrested yet but is expected to turn herself in by noon tomorrow," said Pam Russell, a spokeswoman for the First Judicial District.
The 30-page indictment alleges Smith operated out of her home in Arvada, doing business as a certified public accountant and sometimes as a tax attorney.
"Her clientele is almost exclusively law enforcement," Russell said.
The charges allege Smith met her clients and agreed to do their taxes. Without their knowledge she inflated their deductions for categories such as laundering uniforms, mileage, etc.
Smith allegedly inflated the deductions enough to cause her clients' taxable income to decrease, which meant they got a larger return on both federal and state returns.
"Her clients are victims and did not know what she was doing," Russell said. "We have absolutely no reason to believe the clients knew there was anything criminal going on."
Russell said the scheme unraveled when one client got notice he was going to be audited.
"This just goes to show you need to be very cautious when choosing a tax prep expert," she said.