A Toms River, N.J.-based tax preparer has been sentenced to 37 months in prison pocketing refunds she sought without her client's permission. Gentile prepared returns for clients that showed they had no tax or refunds due, owed minimal taxes, or were owed less in returns than they were entitled to. She then completed a second set of returns that were submitted to the Internal Revenue Service or State of New Jersey for a full refund.
The agencies then issued checks that were deposited into the firm's bank accounts. She used the proceeds to pay for personal expenses.
Gentile pleaded guilty to two counts—one count of mail fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. She was originally charged with 14 counts of mail fraud, nine counts of forging endorsements on treasury checks of the United States, two counts of aggravated identity theft and two counts of filing false income tax returns.