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Houston Tax Preparer Sentenced for Fraudulent Returns
A Houston tax preparer has been sentenced for aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of false income tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Krystal Wright pleaded guilty on April 17.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown has ordered Wright to serve 24 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release. Additionally, she was ordered to pay $525,404 in restitution. During the hearing, the court reviewed her criminal history, the duration of her scheme, and the resulting harm to taxpayers, concluding that a prison sentence was warranted. The court expressed hope that Wright would learn from her actions.
Wright was the sole proprietor and only tax preparer at WW2F in Freeport for six years. Most of her clients did not own businesses or discuss any business-related income or expenses with her. After completing a tax return, Wright did not review the documents with her clients and only provided them with the refund amount and the first two pages of the return. This practice prevented her clients from identifying overstated or false items on their tax returns.
Between 2017 and 2020, Wright prepared and filed approximately 83 federal income tax returns containing false and fraudulent items. These included qualified solar electric property costs, charitable contributions, business expenses, wages, salaries, tips, and supplies. The fraudulent filings resulted in a total sustained tax harm of $525,404.
Wright will remain in custody pending her transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rodolfo Ramirez and James Hu prosecuted the case. IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft, and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, and they maintain a federal conviction rate exceeding 90 percent. The agency has 20 field offices located across the United States and 12 attaché posts abroad.
U.S. Treasury Check Fraud Ring Busted
OAKLAND — A federal grand jury has indicted Franchesca Calagui and Dondre Gray on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud. Calagui is also charged with receipt of a U.S. Treasury check with forged endorsement or signature.
According to the indictment unsealed yesterday, from approximately May 2022 through March 2023, Calagui and Gray, both of Emeryville, Calif., allegedly conspired to obtain stolen U.S. Treasury checks, recruit others to fraudulently endorse or sign the checks, and give the checks to Calagui to cash for their personal benefit. During this period, Calagui was employed as a part-time associate banker at JP Morgan Chase Bank.
The indictment includes text messages between Gray and Calagui discussing the scheme, where Gray expressed concern about scamming a bank where Calagui worked, to which Calagui responded “I do not care if u scam us lmao.” Gray reportedly described using runners—individuals paid to enter banks with fraudulent checks, cash them, and return the proceeds to the operators of the scheme. The defendants are charged with attempting to cash at least 339 stolen U.S. Treasury checks totaling more than $850,000.
Acting United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins, Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Los Angeles Field Office, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Dan Costin, TIGTA Acting Special Agent in Charge Brandon Knarr, Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner from the FDIC Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), San Francisco Division Inspector in Charge Stephen M. Sherwood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Special Agent in Charge Dimitriana Nikolov with the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Inspector General’s (VA OIG) Northwest Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Dean Lake of the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General (SSA OIG) made the announcement.
Both defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1349 and five counts of bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1344(1), (2). Additionally, Calagui faces five counts of receipt of a U.S. Treasury check with forged endorsement or signature under 18 U.S.C. § 510(b). Calagui and Gray were arrested and made their initial appearances in federal district court yesterday. They are scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on April 3, 2025, for a status conference.
An indictment alleges that a crime has been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000 on each charged count. Any sentence following conviction would be determined by the court, considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing sentencing, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Special Assistant United States Attorney Cynthia Johnson is prosecuting the case, assisted by Amala James. The prosecution results from an investigation by the IRS-CI, FBI, TIGTA, FDIC-OIG, USPIS, VA OIG, and SSA OIG.
IRS-CI conducts financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, and identity theft. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents authorized to investigate violations of the Internal Revenue Code, achieving a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.
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