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A Rocky Mount woman was sentenced September 29 to 16 months in prison and ordered to pay $59,268,000 in restitution for committing conspiracy to prepare and file false tax returns, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina.

According to court documents, Bertha Battle, 40, conspired with others to file false tax returns for the 2011 through 2016 tax years for clients of Community Tax Services LLC located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

“Battle and her co-conspirators filed tax returns that claimed false education credits, among other illegitimate items, in order to fraudulently generate clients’ tax refunds,” stated the release. “According to the IRS, the three-year scam resulted in a loss of more than $2 million in tax dollars.”

Battle pleaded guilty to the charge on June 18, 2020.

G. Norman Acker III, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) assisted in this investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Ontjes is prosecuting the case.

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