Tax Preparer Sentenced for IRS Scam

A Nashua woman convicted in January filing false, fictitious and fraudulent claims for tax refunds with the Internal Revenue Service was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.

Maria Magdalena Ulloa, 51, of Nashua, must also have three years of supervised release once she has served out her sentence.

United States Attorney John P. Kacavas said the sentencing followed a week-long jury trial for Ulloa, who was indicted on 10 counts of filing false claims with the federal government. She received guilty verdicts on all 10 counts presented against her.

Ulloa operated Main Travel, a Nashua business that provided, among other things, federal income tax return preparation services. During the 2007 and 2008 tax filing seasons, she filed 10 false federal income tax returns in the names of her clients, diverting most of the resulting inflated tax refunds to herself. The IRS issued nearly $70,000 in tax refunds to which the clients were not entitled. Ulloa then converted the proceeds to her own control by causing a bank to issue loans in anticipation of the refunds. Ulloa forged the checks from the bank issued loans or caused others to forge her clients’ endorsements and then deposited the checks to her own bank account.

Ulloa’s prosecution arose from an investigation by the Manchester Office the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney’s Bill Morse and Nick Abramson.