GUILTY PLEA: Fraudulent tax returns cause $6.9M in loses
Published 12:12 am Saturday, August 5, 2017
- Shawanda Nevers, 49, pleaded guilty to four counts of preparing fraudulent tax returns and faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison on each count, as well as monetary penalties.
NEW ORLEANS — A LaPlace woman faces a possible 10-year plus jail sentence following her guilty plea this week to multiple counts of filing fraudulent tax returns.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced Thursday that Shawanda Nevers, 49, pleaded guilty to four counts of preparing fraudulent tax returns and faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison on each count, as well as monetary penalties.
Shawanda Nevers
Nevers is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 15 in front of U.S. District Court Judge Susie Morgan.
According to authorities, Nevers violated a court order barring her from preparing taxes for clients and caused more than $6.9 million in loses.
Documents filed with the court indicated Nevers — aka Shawanda Hawkins, Shawanda Bryant and Shawanda Johnson — operated LaPlace area businesses 3LJ’s Café Services & Sports Bar and 3LJ’s Industrial Service Solutions.
Between 2011 and 2016, Nevers filed on behalf of her clients income tax returns that included fake business losses, deductions and tax credits and sought refunds to which her clients were not entitled.
“Despite a federal judge permanently enjoining her from preparing federal tax returns in 2014, Nevers continued to file fraudulent returns,” a Justice Department release said. “As part of the plea agreement, Nevers admitted that she owes the Internal Revenue Service $6,934,764 in restitution, as well as $128,900 to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust and $964 to the Social Security Administration.”
The criminal sanctions are not new for Nevers, who in December 2016 was sentenced to a decade in jail, the result of tens of thousands of dollars in fraud perpetrated through her restaurant, according to the St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney’s Office.
Judge J. Sterling Snowdy sentenced Nevers following her guilty plea to seven counts of issuing worthless checks.
During the summer of 2013, Nevers issued over $40,000 in worthless checks in connection with her restaurant, 3LJ’s Café, defrauding multiple businesses, D.A. Bridget A. Dinvaut said.
Nevers also was sentenced to 12 years in prison in September 2016, the result of a conviction for stealing $20,000 from an older St. John the Baptist Parish resident.
