NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that CYNTHIA BOWLEY, age 67, of Meraux, was indicted on August 26, 2022 with one count of aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns, a violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(2).
The indictment alleges that in June 2017, BOWLEY assisted in preparing a false tax return for a taxpayer in which BOWLEY included false business losses and false charitable deductions. The resulting refund was more than $18,000.00 in excess of the amount of the legitimate taxpayer refund.
If convicted, BOWLEY faces a maximum sentence of three years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000.00, up to one year of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that an indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation is being handled by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Brandon S. Long is in charge of the prosecution.