Joliet Tax Preparers Filed 100s of Falsified Returns, Stole More Than $400K: AG

JOLIET, IL — Two Joliet tax preparers filed hundreds of falsified tax returns over the last three years, bilking the state out of more than $400,000, according to the attorney general’s office.

Gerrie Cokenour, 42, and Nycole Simms-Stevens, 44, both were booked into the Will County jail Wednesday.

Bond for Cokenour and Simms-Stevens was set $1 million each.

Cokenour and Simms-Stevens worked for Tax Advocators, a Joliet tax preparation business owned by Cokenour, the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
“Over the course of several years, Cokenour and Simms-Stevens allegedly prepared 764 fraudulent state income tax returns,” the statement said. The “returns allegedly contained inflated and fraudulent property tax data and other fraudulent deductions, which cost the state more than $400,000.”

The two women were arrested Wednesday by the Joliet police at Simms-Stevens’ Burger Avenue home.

“The defendants used their positions as tax preparation ‘experts’ to line their own pockets,” said Attorney General Lisa Madigan. “They will be held accountable for their illegal scheme.”