From the stupid tax prepaper files. 

Isn’t it incredible how some people believe they are owed something they don’t deserve.  This tax preparer stole from taxpayers, applied for and received fraudulent PPP and disaster loans. 

Celina Bolton-Fultz of Slidell, Louisiana, pled guilty on October 3, 2024, to thirty counts of assisting in filing false tax returns under 26 U.S.C. § 7206(2), five counts of filing her own false tax returns under 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1), four counts of making false statements under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, and two counts of theft of government funds under 18 U.S.C. § 641. The Honorable Eldon E. Fallon has scheduled sentencing for January 23, 2025.

According to court documents, between 2018 and 2022, Bolton-Fultz submitted thirty fraudulent tax returns for seven clients of her tax preparation business, falsely inflating their income by adding fictitious “household help” income to obtain unwarranted tax credits. Additionally, she manipulated her own income on her tax returns for the years 2017 through 2021 by fraudulently reducing her gross receipts and reporting false expenses.

In relation to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), Bolton-Fultz also pled guilty to multiple fraud-related charges. She admitted to submitting fraudulent applications in 2020 and 2021 for Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans, providing false business payroll information and fake tax forms. Furthermore, she pled guilty to filing falsified applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EIDLs”) with the Small Business Administration (“SBA”), thereby fraudulently obtaining $204,103 in PPP and EIDL funds.

Under her plea agreement, Bolton-Fultz agreed to pay at least $405,133 in restitution to the IRS and SBA. She faces a maximum penalty of three years of imprisonment for each tax count, five years for each PPP fraud count, and ten years for each EIDL fraud count. Bolton-Fultz also faces fines up to $100,000 for each tax count and $250,000 for each fraud count, or twice the gross gain or loss under 18 U.S.C. § 3571, or both. Additionally, she faces supervised release terms of up to three years for the fraud counts and up to one year for the tax counts, alongside mandatory special assessment fees.