Tax preparer arrested for false returns

South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) agents today arrested a Columbia tax preparer and charged her with 16 counts of willfully preparing false tax returns and four counts of failing to file returns and pay state taxes.

April Lugina Dilosa, 50, of Columbia, acting as a tax preparer, prepared 16 South Carolina Individual Income Tax returns between the tax years of 2015 and 2018 for five individuals. The returns prepared by Dilosa included false profit and loss schedules totaling almost $500,000, according to arrest warrants. Due to the false schedules and fraudulent refunds received, the taxpayers owe $23,974 in state taxes. The taxpayers involved did not have knowledge of or grant consent to the false schedules.

Between tax years 2016 and 2019, Dilosa failed to file South Carolina Individual Income Tax returns. Dilosa earned $160,982 during the tax years in question. According to warrants, Dilosa would receive cash or have clients deposit payments into her bank account. Dilosa failed to pay $5,832 in South Carolina taxes due, the warrants allege.

If convicted, Dilosa faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and/or a fine of $500, plus the cost of prosecution, for each count of assisting with false tax returns, and one year in prison and/or a fine of $10,000, plus the cost of prosecution, for each count of failing to file returns and pay taxes. She is being held in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center pending a bond hearing.

The SCDOR is committed to the fair administration of tax laws. By taking enforcement action against noncompliant taxpayers, the Department seeks to prevent unfairly increasing the tax burden on those who do comply.

If you suspect or know of anyone or a business that has committed a state tax crime, such as tax evasion or tax fraud, contact SCDOR Criminal Investigation and submit a Tax Violation Complaint Form (CID-27) to [email protected] or mail it to:

South Carolina Department of Revenue
Attn: Fraud Advisor
181 East Evans Street, Suite 5
Florence, SC 29506

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