jULY 25, 2003

Memphis Woman Sentenced in Tax Fraud Case

Memphis, TN - Terrell L. Harris, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, and Sherree W. Preston, Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, announced that Linda Greer a/k/a Linda Shelton, of Memphis, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Bernice B. Donald. Greer was sentenced to 2 years probation. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $36,212.00 to the Internal Revenue Service. Greer faced a maximum term of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each count. The government filed a motion with the court for a downward departure based upon Greer's substantial cooperation in the investigation and prosecution.

Greer and an individual named Loretta Young a/k/a Loretta Smith were charged in a 20-count indictment filed on October 30, 2002. Greer pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by filing false claims and five counts of filing false claims against the government. Young pled guilty on July 9, 2003, to the conspiracy charge and nine counts of filing false claims. She is scheduled to be sentenced on November 7, 2003.

According to the indictment, Greer and Young devised a scheme to obtain payment of false claims for refunds from the Internal Revenue Service by filing and causing others to file false 1997 federal income tax returns claiming refunds they were not entitled to receive. From January 18, 1998 until about May 25, 1998, Greer and Young obtained names, social security numbers and dependent information from various individuals to be used to file false income tax returns. The indictment states that they also prepared false IRS Forms 8453 containing false and fictitious amounts of wages and withholdings and forged the signatures of various individuals on these forms.

During Greer's plea hearing, she admitted to filing five false income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service for various individuals. She received information from approximately 30 individuals and provided this information to Young to have the returns prepared and filed. The false returns utilized fictitious W-2 wages and false Schedule C businesses. Eight refund checks were deposited into bank accounts under Greer's control. One of the false tax returns filed was for an individual who was deceased.

This investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vivian Donelson and Rae Oliver prosecuted the case for the government.

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