NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Norfolk woman has been found guilty of helping to prepare false and fraudulent income tax returns.
A federal grand jury in Norfolk Thursday convicted 43-year-old Nikia Tull of five counts of wire fraud and 33 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent income tax returns, according to a Department of Justice news release.
Tull was the co-owner and operator of YT Phoenix Enterprises, Inc., aka Phoenix Financial Tax Service, a tax preparation service.
The release said Tull “willfully aided and assisted in, and counseled and advised” in preparing and sending 33 federal income tax returns with false information to the IRS.
In 2019, Tull submitted forged and fraudulently altered bank statements to FORA Financial LLC, a private lending company in New York, for a loan application for thousands of dollars.
Tull’s sentencing is scheduled for April 12.