La Vergne Woman Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud

NASHVILLE, TN — A La Vergne tax preparer faces up to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to tax fraud in U.S. District Court in Nashville Monday.

Elassia D. Munson, 43, pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns for her clients and filing her own false tax returns, defrauding the government of nearly $100,000.

According to court documents, from 2010 through 2015, Munson, a tax preparer, prepared and filed false returns for her clients by claiming false education credits, false charitable deductions and bogus medical and dental expenses, generating large tax refunds. Munson diverted a substantial part of the refunds to her E-Trade financial account.

Additionally, Munson failed to report the diversions and her tax preparation fees on her own personal income tax return for years 2011 through 2014. As part of the plea agreement, Munson agreed to pay back approximately $97,000 to the IRS that is attributable to her tax fraud scheme.

Munson will be sentenced on February 26, 2018, and faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison on each count, as well as a period of supervised release and monetary penalties.

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