A Florida woman was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison, one year of supervised release and ordered to pay $485,290.03 in restitution to the United States for filing false tax returns with the IRS to obtain tax refunds.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2018 and 2020, Yolanda Dewar filed four false tax returns seeking a total of almost $2 million in tax refunds from the IRS on behalf of a trust she created. These returns falsely reported that the trust had earned significant income, made payments to the IRS and had federal income taxes withheld on its behalf. Dewar continued filing false returns even after the IRS notified her that her claims were frivolous and had no basis in law. In total, the IRS issued nearly $500,000 to the trust in response to Dewar’s false claims. Dewar used a portion of the funds to purchase a car for a family member, get plastic surgery and renovate her home.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind and Kavitha Bondada of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Deric Zacca for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.