T.O. tax preparer sentenced to fed prison for 1,700 false returns
A Thousand Oaks tax preparer was sentenced on Aug. 6 to 27 months in federal prison for filing more than 1,700 false tax returns for her clients.
Ann Quach, 50, was also ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett to pay $6.5 million in restitution.
Quach pleaded guilty on Feb. 18 to one count of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns for the clients of her business AQ Financial, also known as A2Z Tax Solutions.
She also pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
“Tax fraud is a serious crime that corrodes the foundation of a functional society,” federal prosecutors argued in a sentencing memo.
“[Quach’s] tax fraud was serious,” they said. “It was not committed because of a brief lapse in judgment.”
For years, Quach “used her tax expertise to help clients evade tax on their income, causing significant losses to the U.S. Treasury.”
Prosecutors said that from 2011 to 2024, Quach prepared 1,734 Form 1040 returns resulting in multi-million losses to the U.S. Treasury.
She included made-up losses for fake businesses that didn’t exist and used those fictitious losses to offset her client’s income.
Quach also frequently included false deductions for medical expenses and charitable contributions.
The false entries on the tax returns fraudulently reduced the taxes her clients owed – often generating refunds.
Quach collected substantial fees from her satisfied clients, many of whom returned year after year, prosecutors said.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, the federal law enforcement arm of the IRS.
