3 El Dorado County women face federal fraud charges

Three El Dorado County women were indicted Tuesday on federal fraud charges.

Teresa Marie Marty of Pollock Pines, Rebecca Bandera-Marty of Shingle Springs, and Pamela Harris of Placerville face charges of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. In addition to the conspiracy count, Marty is charged with 33 counts of false claims against the United States, and Bandera-Marty is also charged in 16 of these counts.

According to the indictment, in 2008 and 2009 the women filed at least 250 false individual federal income tax returns claiming more than $60 million in false federal income tax refunds for clients in 26 states. In response to the false returns, the IRS erroneously issued more than 40 tax refunds, totaling more than $8 million, including a false refund for $277,832 for Marty’s tax return.

Marty owned the tax preparation business Advanced Financial Services in Placerville. Bandera-Marty is her daughter-in-law. Both were licensed tax preparers. Harris was their office manager.

If convicted, Marty, Bandera-Marty, and Harris each face up to 10 years in prison for the conspiracy charge. Marty and Bandera-Marty also face up to five years in prison for each false claim charge.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report