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July Tax Case of the Month

Financial trail unravels a Kansas City tax preparer’s fraud, identity theft scheme

It started with someone else’s identity. In December 2019, Kansas City tax preparer Bianca Cobbins obtained another person’s name, date of birth, Social Security number, address and credit score. She used the stolen information to obtain a fraudulent driver’s license, then worked with another individual to open a bank account in the victim’s name.

Cobbins created fake paystubs that made it appear the victim worked for a Kansas City healthcare company and had wages deposited into the account. Armed with a stolen identity, fabricated employment records and a bank account, Cobbins and her co-conspirator applied for loans from multiple financial institutions and lenders, resulting in a $36,128 loss for the victim.

As investigators followed the financial trail, they uncovered a much larger pattern of fraud. Cobbins owned and operated a Kansas City tax preparation business, where clients trusted her to accurately prepare their federal tax returns. Instead, investigators found she knowingly prepared false tax returns from 2018 through 2023.

Cobbins frequently reported fictitious business profits or losses on Schedule C forms to inflate her clients’ refunds. IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) special agents ultimately identified at least 60 false federal tax returns that caused more than $312,000 in losses to the IRS.

The same records Cobbins used to make her schemes appear legitimate helped law enforcement unravel them because they created a trail of fraudulent activity. In July, Cobbins was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for making false statements to a financial institution and aiding in the preparation of false tax returns.

Each month, IRS-CI selects one criminal case as the Tax Case of the Month. The July Tax Case of the Month was investigated by the IRS-CI Kansas City Field Office.

August Tax Case of the Month

California tax preparer sentenced to 27 months in prison for $6.48M tax fraud scheme

For more than a decade, California tax preparer Ann Quach cited businesses on her clients’ tax returns that had one major problem, they didn’t exist.

The fictitious businesses were part of a scheme that stretched from 2011 to 2024 and ultimately resulted in 1,734 false federal tax returns and nearly $6.5 million in losses to the U.S. Treasury.

Quach operated AQ Financial, also known as A2Z Tax Solutions, in Thousand Oaks, California. As she prepared clients’ returns, she reported fabricated losses from nonexistent businesses and used those losses to offset her clients’ tax liabilities.

Quach also frequently claimed deductions for medical expenses and charitable contributions that her clients were not entitled to receive. Together, the false losses and deductions reduced the amount of taxes owed, sometimes enough to turn a tax liability into a refund.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) special agents investigated the scheme, uncovering a 13-year pattern of fictitious losses and false deductions.

Quach pleaded guilty to one count of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns and one count of wire fraud. In August, she was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $6.48 million in restitution.

Each month, IRS-CI selects one criminal case as the Tax Case of the Month. The August Tax Case of the Month was investigated by the IRS-CI Los Angeles Field Office.

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IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.

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