West Point woman pleads guilty to garnering $211K in tax fraud

West Point woman pleads guilty to garnering $211K in tax fraud


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

HOOPER, Weber County — A West Point woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to helping as many as 15 people file fraudulent tax returns.

Gina D. Salayandia, 45, pleaded guilty in federal court to helping people file false federal tax returns, using exemptions and tax credits they were not eligible for, according to a statement Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice. The returns were filed between 2006 and 2011.

Salayandia has been a self-employed tax return preparer since at least 1999. Her business is based in Hooper.

Salayandia waived indictment and was charged in April with one count of aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns.

Salayandia admitted in court to telling a tax client that her tax situation would improve if she claimed additional dependents on her tax return, knowing that those dependents were ineligible because they aren't legal U.S. citizens, nationals or residents, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The total tax loss in the scheme was set at $211,600, as part of Salayandia's plea deal.

Salayandia will be sentenced Sept. 4. She faces a possible maximum penalty of three years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and a one-year term of supervised release.

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
McKenzie Romero

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast