Texas tax preparer pleads guilty to tax crime as part of false return scheme

Date: March 24, 2026

Contact: [email protected]

Austin, TX - A Texas return preparer pleaded guilty today to filing false federal tax returns on behalf of clients.

The following is according to court documents and statements made in court: From approximately January 2019 to October 2022, Subhala Suresh worked at a tax preparation firm where she prepared false federal tax returns for clients that included false expenses designed to reduce the taxes her clients owed to the IRS. As a result of these false expenses, Suresh's clients received refunds to which they were not entitled. Based on the false tax returns she filed, Suresh admitted to causing a tax loss to the United States between $250,000 and $550,000.

This plea follows recent guilty pleas of three other Texas return preparers. Mathews Chacko, Anish Pillai and Mou Kundu all prepared false federal tax returns as part of the same scheme. Chacko previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and admitted that the conspiracy caused a total tax loss exceeding $3.5 million but less than $9.5 million. Pillai previously pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return and admitted that he caused between $1.5 million and $3.5 million in losses to the United States. Kundu also previously pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return and admitted that she caused between $250,000 and $550,000 in losses to the United States. All four individuals will be sentenced at a later date.

Suresh pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return. She faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Marissa R. Brodney and Michael L. Jones of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, Tax Section, are prosecuting the case.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.