St. Mary Parish Tax Preparer Arrested for Fraud Scheme
BATON ROUGE – A St. Mary Parish tax preparer faces multiple felony charges for a fraud scheme involving fabricated business losses for companies that did not exist.
Investigators with the Louisiana Department of Revenue (LDR) say Dawanna Monay Monroe (Booking Photo), of 317 Callahan Street in Patterson, filed dozens of tax returns containing phony business losses on behalf of individual taxpayers who were not business owners. This type of fraud scheme is a common tactic among unscrupulous preparers trying to generate business by promising unrealistically large refunds for
Monroe’s alleged fraud scheme cost Louisiana taxpayers approximately $193,000 in improper refunds. She was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish prison on Tuesday, Aug. 4 on charges of Principal to Felony Theft over $25,000, Principal to Filing or Maintaining False Public Records and Principal to Illegal Transmission of Monetary Funds.
Monroe is the 73rd person arrested under a joint anti-tax fraud initiative of the Louisiana Department of Revenue and the state Attorney General’s Office.
