Texas woman sentenced for IRS fraud conspiracy involving Arizona tax firm

PHOENIX — A Texas woman has been sentenced to 1 year and 9 months in prison for defrauding the IRS in a scheme that targeted an Arizona tax firm, authorities said.

The sentencing of 53-year-old Jackie Marie Peters took place after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

How scheme defrauding the IRS through an Arizona tax firm worked

Her co-conspirators hacked into an Arizona tax preparer firm’s computer network from January 2020 to April 2022 to commit the fraud, prosecutors said.

They then allegedly modified in-progress tax documents for over 40 people without their knowledge — or without the firm’s knowledge.

Using these modified tax documents, the criminals then deposited tax refunds into 10 bank accounts Peters opened, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

Peters used the more than $2.5 million from the fraudulent tax refunds to buy cryptocurrency, prosecutors said.

She was also sentenced to three years of supervised release following her prison sentence.

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