Marianna woman sued for tax fraud

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil suit against seven people accused of promoting a “redemption” tax return scheme, including a Marianna resident who owns a Panama City business.
According to U.S. District Court records, a complaint for permanent injunction was filed Tuesday against Evelyn Johnston of Marianna. Her business is listed as Abaco Executive Service Inc. in Panama City.
The court filing says the scheme involves tax filers producing fraudulent return claims with fake documents that result in refunds as large as $1 million, in exchange for compensation to the firm that handles the filing.
Court records state Johnston allegedly requested $17.5 million in fraudulent refunds, including refunds in excess of $800,000 for herself and her husband.
The other six people facing legal action are in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Nashville, Tenn. and Pocatello, Idaho.
According to a news release from the Department of Justice, the seven defendants allegedly prepared tax returns requesting a total of $562.4 million in bogus refunds. 
Redemption scheme promoters falsely tell customers that the federal government maintains “secret” accounts of money for its citizens, the department news release said. Promoters claim to be able to help customers access the secret funds by filing the false IRS forms.