NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — A Newport News woman was sentenced this week to more than four years in prison for filing false tax returns and identity theft.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said 33-year-old Neivda Hicks prepared and filed returns in exchange for money for at least 53 people between 2013 and 2016.
Prosecutors say Hicks included information in the returns that was designed to lower the amount owed — and therefore increase the return.
Hicks falsely claimed that these people incurred qualifying education expenses, as well as business profits and losses. She also did not identify herself as a paid return preparer — making it seem like the individual people were filing them.
Prosecutors say Hicks included false information on her own returns from 2012 through 2015.
In total, Hicks filed 32 false tax returns and requested over $200,000 in federal income tax refunds — over $150,000 of which derived from false information.
Hicks was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.
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