Durham tax preparer found guilty of fraud, conspiracy

A Durham tax preparer was convicted in federal court this week.

A federal jury handed down a guilty verdict on Friday for Keesha Frye. She had faced multiple counts for conspiracy and preparing fraudulent tax returns, according to a news release.

Frye owned and operated KEF Professional Tax Services, a Durham tax preparation business. From 2012-14, Frye and other KEF employees falsified their clients’ tax returns by including fake and inflated sources of income to qualify for and maximize the earned income tax credit and increase the refunds claimed on the returns. Frye also filed personal income tax returns that claimed bogus childcare expenses and business losses, court records showed.

KEP Professional Tax & Credit Services was incorporated as a limited-liability corporation in August 2013 with Frye as the founder and registered agent, according to records kept by the North Carolina Secretary of State’s Office.

The state dissolved the company in January 2016 because it had not filed required annual reports, the records show.

U.S. District Court Judge William L. Osteen, Jr. scheduled Frye’s sentencing for April 11.

Frye faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiracy and three years for each charge of filing fraudulent returns. She also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

This story was originally published January 13, 2018 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Durham tax preparer found guilty of fraud, conspiracy."