A former Long Island tax preparer has pleaded guilty in federal court to orchestrating a years-long tax fraud scheme that cost the federal government nearly $12 million.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Damaris Beltre, 58, of Freeport, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Central Islip to two counts of wire fraud and one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns. The proceeding was held before U.S. District Judge Sanket J. Bulsara.
Federal prosecutors said that from January 2021 through April 2024, Beltre owned and operated multiple tax preparation and financial services businesses in Freeport, where she personally prepared — and supervised employees preparing — fraudulent federal income tax returns for clients. The returns included false dependents and improperly claimed tens of millions of dollars in COVID-19–related tax credits and motor fuel tax credits.
As a result of the scheme, the Internal Revenue Service issued nearly $11 million in improper refunds and failed to collect millions more in reduced tax liabilities, authorities said. Beltre’s clients paid more than $1 million in fees, including a percentage of any refund issued.
In one undercover operation cited by prosecutors, a federal agent hired Beltre to prepare a tax return in April 2023. While the agent would have owed approximately $205 if the return were prepared accurately, Beltre allegedly filed a fraudulent return claiming a refund of more than $14,000 and charged $2,200 in fees.
Prosecutors also detailed a separate Paycheck Protection Program fraud scheme in which Beltre submitted false payroll and tax records between April 2020 and July 2022 to obtain approximately $1 million in fraudulent SBA loans. Authorities said she used proceeds from both schemes for personal expenses, including paying debts, purchasing a vehicle and jewelry, and funding a home in the Caribbean.
“This defendant brazenly defrauded the government and put her clients in jeopardy to line her own pockets,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement.
Beltre faces up to 53 years in prison when sentenced, along with restitution totaling approximately $12 million. The case was investigated with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Freeport Police Department.
A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Photo: Americasroof, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
